Forgotten Child
by Lone-Wolf666
Summary: There was a second child in the Potter's house that night. Forgotten, lost abandoned and alone will she finally be recognised for being the 'Second Potter Child? Or will her true identity come to light? slight Dumble bashing! slash to be decided...
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter I: Forgotten Child**

Lord Voldermort entered the Potter's house on the night of all hallows eve. Of the four people that lived in that house, only one would emerge alive. One would be forgotten, and two would die as heroes.

"James! NO!" yelled Lily Potter, she clung to James Potter's arm fiercely, trying to pull him away so they could run. He shook her off.

"Please Lily. Go protect Harry." He spoke softly, tears sliding down his tanned cheeks. She kissed him fiercely and then ran to the children's room.

Harry Potter, soon to become the boy who lived, sat up staring at the door. He was frightened, strange noises and an unfamiliar voice was speaking and shouting from behind the door. He turned round to look at his twin sister, who was also staring at the door.

Ebony Potter, The Forgotten One, stared at her brother, and then turned to look at the door again. She didn't know what was going on, but she knew something was seriously wrong. Even as an infant Ebony had been smart, smart enough to know that she was unwanted. She knew that her parents had only wanted Harry. And she knew when to stay out of the way.

Lily Potter burst through the door, blinded by tears. She ran over to Harry and held him tight. He whimpered softly in his mothers arms. She looked over at Ebony, standing up in her cot; she was staring dejectedly at her mother. Lily's heart ached. She reached out to stroke Ebony's hair, realising that she did love her and didn't regret her birth. Ebony stared at her mother confused.

Ebony's mother smiled at Ebony. Suddenly the door burst open with a bang. It flew off its hinges and just missed hitting Ebony. A tall, cloaked figure stepped in. Lily screamed and Harry cried. Ebony just stood there, unmoving and staring at the figure with no emotion present on her small, pale face.

"Give me the child and I will let you live." Said the cloaked figure. Lily clung onto Harry. He squealed in pain when she hugged him too tight.

"Never, you will never kill him." She cried.

"So be it." He said in a bored tone. A jet of green light shot out of his wand. it hit Lily square in the chest. She cried out and fell to the ground. He son still in her arms. Her hand reached out to try and touch Ebony one last time but it flopped down onto the floor. She managed to utter one final word

"Sorry…." And with that she was no more. She went to join her husband in the land beyond, and kept watch on her children till the day they died.

"Avada Kedavra." Another jet of green light shot towards Harry. It hit him on the forehead but he didn't die. Instead a cocoon of pink and red formed around him and shot the spell back at Voldermort. It hit him in the chest, a blue light connected the fallen Voldermort, the cocooned Harry and the forgotten Ebony. White light pulsed through the connection to Harry. Black and green light pulsed through the connection to Ebony. And lord Voldermort was sucked dry. His remaining powers allowed him to apparate, but only his soul apparated. His body remained on the red carpet of the children's room. It burst into vibrant green flames and a shriek emitted from the remains.

The house burned to the ground. The only living tings that remained were the two twins. One to be a saviour of wizard kind and forgotten by all, the other to be crowned, knighted and celebrated as The Boy Who Lived.

A huge man on a flying motorbike touched down outside the remains of the Potter's house. He blew his nose into his table cloth sized handkerchief and stepped off the bike. He picked up a crying baby boy and wrapped him up in a blue blanket that resided in his overly large pocket. He was completely oblivious, due to his sobbing, that another child lay in the smouldering remains of what used to be a safe place. It cried out for someone to remember it. Cried for someone to notice it. But no one answered the cries.

Dawn broke over Godric's Hollow, the child lay there, throat dry and voce horse from its screams. It had given up. It knew no one cared. It knew no one remembered. It knew no one would come.

The sun was high in the sky, a shabby looking wizard walked up to the remains of the house. The child noticed him and cried out one last time. He heard the cry. He answered it. He ran over the ashes and burnt wood to where the child lay. He picked it up and cradled it in his arms. He looked around to make sure no muggles were in sight and disapparated.

Sirius Black stood on the other side of the street, facing the man he had hunted down. Peter Pettigrew. Known to his friends as wormtail. He, along with Remus Lupin, Sirius Black and James Potter, was one of the esteemed marauders. They had been the coolest gang in Hogwarts. Causing hell for the teachers and putting Slytherins in their place. But there had been a rat among them.

Pettigrew shivered, then without warning shot a spell at the ground. The pavement exploded, killing twelve muggles. He transformed into a rat and scurried off down the sewers. But not before he had cut off his finger and thrown it into the dust.

Sirius Black stood there amazed, he didn't know what to say. Then aurors appeared all around him. They grabbed him and dragged him off to be thrown in Azkaban prison without a trial.

Ebony sat in the cold, empty house. The house elf, Kreacher, had abandoned her. H had left the house to fetch someone. Yet again, helpless Ebony was alone in the dark, forgotten by all.

Rodolphus Lestrange sat in his favourite armchair, staring at his wife. Bellatrix Lestrange. She was playing with her wand absentmindedly. Suddenly the family house elf Kreacher appeared in front of them.

"Master Lestrange! You must come quickly! Master Sirius has been arrested and there is a young child left all alone in the house! It is the second Potter child!" exclaimed Kreacher, hopping from one foot to the other. Bellatrix's head shot upwards. As did Rodolphus'. She leapt up and grabbed Kreacher's ear. He squealed with pain but apparated Rodolphus and Bellatrix back to Grimmauld place.

Ebony heard a noise and sat up in her cot. She could hear voices and three pairs of footsteps. The door flew open and a young woman with untameable hair walked in, followed by a tall man with long brown hair and Kreacher. The woman picked Ebony up and looked at her. Studying the unique scar on the side of her neck. It was the mark of a demon. A fallen angel if you would. It was a criss-crossing claw mark with a small snake in the middle. It wasn't very large and could be easily hidden with a collar or turtle neck jumper. But it was there. It was almost like a tattoo, different colours. Mainly green and black.

"It's her, this is the lost Potter." Said Bellatrix. She turned round and apparated back to her mansion.

A year later Bellatrix and Rodolphus Lestrange were arrested along with other death eaters. they had been searching for their master. Bellatrix had a small child in her possession, which was quickly gotten rid of when the ministry realised who and what it was. They didn't kill it. but left it in the streets. For the fourth time in the two years it had been alive. The child was forgotten and abandoned again.

Valkyrie ran through the streets of London in nothing but a torn black T-shirt and ripped jeans. She had no shoes, no house, and no name. All the street rats had been given new names, but they were just a way of identifying each other. They weren't real names, nicknames is a way of putting it. Valkyrie ran towards the docks, there was an abandoned tube tunnel down there that about twenty street rats called home. She ran down a slope and leaped over a bench. She hid in a hedge as the police ran past. They didn't notice Valkyrie and eventually left.

Valkyrie returned to the tunnel at midnight. She had managed to steal four loaves of bread, two tins of beans and three boxes of matches. She had also managed to steal a jacket ready for the winter and a belt to hold her jeans up. The bread was passed around, the beans poured into a saucepan and the matches were used to light the fires. She was the resident thief, the best of the lot. She had never been caught and always delivered. Without her, these kids would be dead. That gave her some comfort in the cold nights. Knowing that here she was doing good and wouldn't be forgotten.

Valkyrie woke up early, ready to do some more stealing. She put on her new jacket and walked out into the streets. A cold morning mist was hanging low in the air, Valkyrie changed her appearance so she had brown bushy hair and big brown eyes and set off to do a good days pilfering.

A big hairy man grabbed Valkyrie from behind. He hung her upside down by her feet and stared at her.

"Let me down you great oaf!" she yelled. No one looked round. She was a street rat. No one cared for street rats.

"Ssh missy. Yer not safe ere." He said, he wrapped her up inside his coat and climbed back onto his motorbike.

Ten minutes later Valkyrie plucked up the courage to look out from under the coat. They were flying over London. She could see the docks where she had grown up, the streets where she had pilfered and the alleys she had hidden in.

"Where are we going?!" she shouted. The big hairy guy looked down.

"We are going to see Professor Dumbledore. The grea'est man who ever lived. E's gonna keep yer safe til e can enrol yer in Hogwarts. Now pipe down, I need ter concentrate." He said in a booming voice.

"What's there to concentrate on! We're in the sky! What's gonna happen! We gonna hit traffic or something? Or are we gonna get stuck behind a tractor?" she yelled back, he chuckled.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter II: False Identity**

Valkyrie fell asleep after an hour of flying. She was jolted awake when they touched down in the grounds of a castle. An old man with a beard came to greet them as they stepped off the bike.

"Welcome Ebony to Hogwarts school of witch craft and wizardry. If you would care to follow me, I think a nice cup of hot chocolate is in order on this cold day. "He said softly. The wind whipped at Ebony's face and she nodded vigorously. She transformed back into her normal appearance and followed Dumbledore up the steps and into the castle.

It was warm inside and very, very cosy. House colours hung above the entrance to what looked like a hall. Dumbledore led them up the stairs and into his office. Apparently everything here was about passwords. His was Chocolate Marshmallow.

They sat down in his large office. It was decorated in gold and purple and he had the most beautiful bird anyone had ever seen. He told Ebony it was a phoenix and that when it died a new one is born from its ashes. Luckily I wasn't going to witness that today.

"Now, Ebony. I am afraid that you may be in terrible danger. Firstly do you know who your parents were?" Asked Dumbledore. Ebony reached up and touched the mark on her neck.

"Well, I did a test on a strand of my hair and it told me that I was Ebony Potter, daughter of Lily and James Potter and twin to Harry Potter. But I don't know them personally, they died when I was one." She explained. Dumbledore nodded.

"Yes you are correct. But you must never tell anyone this. For you see. There are certain people out there that call themselves the Death Eaters. And they have a master that has been missing for eleven years now called Lord Voldermort. When he tried to kill you and your brother he failed because of your mothers sacrifice. And he transferred some of his un needed power to Harry. But he also transferred the rest of his power. His ancestral blood and his much needed powers to you. And if a death eater finds out who you are they will take you to him. They will suck out your power and kill you. In doing so Voldermort will rise again and take over the wizarding world." Explained Dumbledore.

Ebony sat there motionless, she didn't know what to say. She had jus been told that she was one of the most powerful beings on earth. But if she fell into the wrong hands then she would aid the destruction of the world. Brilliant! She'd gone from street rat to hero to destroyer of worlds in a day. What was next? Being Hagrid's long lost cousin and Professor Snape's soul mate?! Professor Snape was a sarcastic, sneering man that had only entered the room ten minutes ago. He was kind of cool. If you think cool is the dark mysterious type with a dry sense of humour and a glare that could make Voldermort himself cower in a corner and cry for his mummy. Must remember to practice that one before school starts.

"Now we come to the important bit. We want you to take on a false identity. We have prepared an alias for you which Professor Snape thinks you should be able to play easily." Said Dumbledore.

"Yes, we want you to become Hermione Granger. A muggle born from Kent. She has brown bushy hair, big brown chocolate eyes, she's a bookworm, is far too smart for her age, doesn't like getting into trouble, has a wicked temper and a glare to match. She is also a complete Gryffindor and very insecure and has no self esteem or self confidence what so ever. Think you can play her and build on her character?" asked Severus Snape. Ebony nodded and transformed into a bushy haired know-it-all from Kent. She decided that her parents were dentists and that her family were quite well off. She then locked her street rat, abandoned and forgotten self in the back of her mind. but she couldn't get rid of what Dumbledore had referred to as her Slytherin personality. It stuck there so she decided to use it to her advantage to become a Gryffindor. It would aid her I keeping her identity secret and her friends safe.

"We have also decided that you are to become friends with your twin Harry Potter and his soon to be friend Ronald Weasley." Said Dumbledore smiling. Hermione nodded.

"Now. You have a week before the Hogwarts express leaves from kings cross. Hagrid will take you down to Diagon alley to buy you your school supplies and some robes and cloths and afterwards he will bring you back here. And you will stay in the castle until the first of September." Explained Dumbledore, leading Hermione back towards the bike. She nodded and smiled.

Hagrid flew her back to London where they touched down outside a pub called the leaky cauldron. The went inside and into the back where Hagrid tapped the wall with his umbrella and it opened up to reveal a small street laden with shops and stalls. Not many people were present but there were a few oddly dressed people.

Hagrid and the newly named Hermione shopped for a good two hours buying books, cloths, a broom (Nimbus 2001 on pre order), a cat named Shadow and a Black Phoenix tail wand made of Holly. There were only three of them made and Olivander had been under strict instruction to tell people there had only ever been two. This was to stop people identifying Ebony/Hermione by her wand. Olivander put in his books that she had bought a Unicorn tail wand made of Oak.

Finally after hours of shopping it was finally time to leave. Hagrid put Hermione on the bike and then flew back to the castle while she slept.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter III: Slytherdor**

It was September the first and Hermione Granger, muggle born know-it-all, awoke in a small room in the leaky cauldron. Dumbledore had sent her here the night before so she would make the train on time. She got up had a shower, got dressed and made some final adjustments to her alias before leaving.

Hermione arrived at platform nine and three quarters with only a minute to spare. She added not being late to her list of things not to do while being Hermione Granger and boarded the train.

She found an empty compartment near the end of the train and sat down. She started reading one of her new potions books so she could get ahead before their first class.

Ten minutes later a short, round faced boy entered the compartment.

"O-Oh, sorry, I didn't see you there, I'll just be…going." He said quickly. I smiled. Time to make some friends I think.

"No, it's ok. You can sit in here if you want, I'd like some company." I said softly and in the sweetest voice possible. He smiled nervously and sat down, placing his toad next to my cat.

"So, what's your name?" I asked politely, trying to start up a conversation.

"N-Neville, Neville Longbottom." He said timidly.

"W-What's your name?" he asked back.

"I'm Eb…. I mean Hermione Granger." I said. Great going brainiac! you nearly gave the game away before you'd even started!

"Nice cat, what's it called?" said Neville, making me jump.

"Oh, er, that's Shadow." I replied smiling again. Boy were my cheeks hurting. Note to self, tone down the smiling a touch.

"Cool, I wanted a cat but Gran wouldn't let me get one. She's allergic, and she's afraid of birds so an owl was out of the question. So I got Trevor." He said, indicating to his toad.

"Wow, he's quite a toad." I said, eyeing the massive green warty thing, a plan forming in my brain.

"Hey Neville don't you think you should put your robes on, we're going to be there in half an hour." I said, trying to get him to leave the room so I could start to execute my plan.

"Oh yeah, I forgot. Thanks Hermione." He said, jumping up and grabbing a rucksack from above his head. I waited until I was sure he was gone when I let the toad out. I practically launched itself out of the cage and onto the floor. It bounced off and out of the door quicker than you can say quidditch. When Neville came back I pretended to cry.

"O-Oh Neville I'm s-so s-s-sorry. I w-was putting my bag on the shelf and it fell and hit Trevor's cage and it opened and he took off. I'm so sorry." I said, fake tears clinging to my eye lashes.

"No, it's ok Hermione, please don't cry. It's fine let's just go find him. You go left I'll go right." He said, shocked that I was actually crying. I obeyed and shot off down the train, pretending to look for Trevor.

I finally found Harry in the last compartment of the last carriage. He was sitting there with Ron Weasley eating sweets. I knocked on the door and walked in.

"Excuse me, have either of you seen a toad, a boy named Neville has lost it and he's really worried." I said sweetly. Ronald just sat there staring at me.

"No, sorry we haven't. But if we do spot him we'll let you know er…"he trailed off.

"Hermione, Hermione Granger." I said. He nodded.

"I'm Harry Potter and this is Ronald Weasley." He said pointing at his friend.

"Nice to meet you both. Erm Ronald, you have something on your nose….j-just there, no there." I said rubbing the side of my nose with my finger to indicate where the dirt was. He rubbed it off quickly and sulked.

"Yeah, thanks." He spat. Obviously Weasley's are a bit sensitive when it comes to their second hand robes and dirt o their faces.

"And Harry your glasses are broken." I said pointing my wand at them. He recoiled back.

"Occulus Reparum." I recited and the selotape jumped off of his glasses. He sat there shocked.

"H-How?"

"Simple spells volume one. I started studying when I found out that I was going to be going to Hogwarts." I lied. I waved and left, summoning Trevor jus as I reached my compartment. He shot out from the opposite compartment and into my hand.

"Neville, your back." I said pretending to be breathless.

"I found him, he was down the end of the train." I lied again. Better get used to lying; it's going to be a part of my life for a very long time. Or until Voldermort dies for real.

"Oh thank Merlin." He sighed, picking up the toad and glaring at him through the bars of the cage.

We sailed to the castle in three person rowing boats. Neville went with Harry and Ron and I went with the Patil twins. The only known twins in our year. I of course being the know-it-all tried to bore the pants off them. But they seemed fascinated by how much I knew. Probably planning to get me to do their homework for them.

Professor McGonagall, Gryffindor head of house and transfiguration teacher and deputy head, lead us into the great hall. We stood in a huddle in front of the school, staring at an old hat on a stool.

"Now, First years, when I call your name you will come up here, sit on the stall and I will place the sorting hat on your head and it will sort you into your houses. The Gryffindor table is on the right, followed by Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and lastly Slytherin." She practically spat the word.

"First up, Granger Hermione." I pretended t look shocked, but I knew I was going to be first. My new name was way to close to A.

"Ok, stay calm, breath." I muttered to myself as I walked through the crowd and up the steps to the stool.

"Crazy that one, real nut job." I heard Ron say. I'll get him for that. I sat on the stool and McGonagall placed the sorting hat on my head. I held my breathe.

"Hmm, tough one. Where to put you? You could be great you know. Perhaps….yes that would suit you. You shall be in neither Slytherin nor Gryffindor but will be in both houses. You will play on the Slytherin Quidditch team, sleep in the Gryffindor dormitory, your uniform will be a mix of both and you will eat at which ever table you feel like. You shall be the first and most likely the last…. SLYTHERDOR!" yelled the sorting hat. Every one gasped. I wasn't expecting that one. McGonagall sighed and removed the hat from my head. I walked over to the Gryffindor table in an ocean of whispers and hushed insults. Neither house cheered for me. Neither house welcomed me. Neither house wanted me. I was hated by both sets of people and shunned for not being of pureblood of pure spirit. Merlin I haed my life.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter IV: The Golden Trio**

I sat in the common room reading my new potions book; I had already read the first two years text books so I was seriously ahead. I heard voices coming from the boys' dormitory stairs. I looked around to see Harry and Ron walking down in their pyjamas.

"Hey Hermione. What are you doing up?" asked Harry.

"I couldn't sleep, what about you two, you sneaking out already?" I asked smiling.

"No, it's seven in the morning, we were going to have a shower." He said confused.

"Seven?! Oh my god I haven't even gone to bed yet! What was I thinking?! I'm going to be so tired! Oh Merlin what happens if I fall asleep in class?!" I over reacted. I was only half worried about that.

"D-Don't worry Mione, you van sit with us in class if you want and we'll make sure you don't go to sleep." Harry offered.

"Oh thank you Harry, you're a life saver." I exclaimed getting up and straightening my hair.

"We'll meet you in the great hall at breakfast." Said Ron smiling. I smiled back and ran up the girls stairs.

True to their word Harry and Ron had saved me a space at the breakfast table. I sat down in between them and grabbed some toast and pumpkin juice.

"So wha lesson o we hve fir Mione? I forot my timeable." Ron asked. His mouth jammed full of bacon. I smiled although talking with your mouthful is disgusting it was kind of cute when Ron did it.

"We've got Potions first then Charms then transfiguration then lunch then broom practice." I said, I had already memorized my timetable for the year. I thought all know-it-all's would do that. Ron nodded and returned to inhaling his sausage, bacon and eggs.

Our first Potions class was I disaster. Professor Snape refused to acknowledge my existence, he ridiculed Harry' family, therefore ridiculing mine, and Gryffindor lost one hundred house points. Not to mention Neville managing to blow up a completely empty cauldron and Seamus setting his hair and eyebrows on fire for the third time.

Broom practice was brilliant though. Harry saved Neville's remember all from Malfoy while I saved his toad from Crabbe and Goyle. Who tried to catapult the poor thing over the castle. We got snapped up for the quidditch team straight away. Although we were both on opposing teams we were still happy for one another. He got seeker and I got beater.

On Halloween I experienced my first proper fight with Ron. It was great fun. He made fun of the way I directed him to do the levitating charm and took the piss out of my untameable hair. But being the sensitive know-it-all I was I pretended to cry and hid in the bathroom reading, making sobbing sounds when some one entered.

Finally after I had finished the seventh year potions book I decided it was time to show my face again. Which was a bad move. Because when I stepped out of my cubicle, wiping my eyes from tiredness I sort of walked into a troll that had gotten loose in the castle. Just my luck! I screamed, not out of fear but out of surprise. Obviously Harry and Ron had been looking for me because as soon as I screamed I heard

"Quick Ron she's in here!" the troll took a swing at me and I ducked. It took another swing and caught me, flinging me head first into an open cubicle. My head was bleeding pretty badly but I ignored it. I hit the ground as the troll smashed the top half of my cubicle. I noticed Harry and Ron's feet from under the door and screamed like a scared girl. Personally I was having the best fun ever. I needed something like this t keep me on my toes. I'd been slacking off a bit ever since I'd started living in this nice cosy castle. I was going all soft. Not like I used to be.

I crawled under the other cubicles as the troll brought its club down on where my head would have been a second ago. I leapt out of the last cubicle when the troll demolished that as well and hid under a sink. I shot a couple of spell at the troll but they didn't do much. Damn why was I spending so much time trying to earn praise from Professor Snape when I should be learning how to protect myself! Harry grabbed hold of the troll's club as it swung it back readying it for another swing. The troll swung it forwards and Harry jumped onto the trolls head, sitting on his shoulders he stuck his wand up the troll's nose. Yuck! The troll grabbed at him and shook his head about before he finally got Harry's leg. He lifted Harry up and dangled him in front of him. He took a swing at him with the club but missed, mainly due to its own stupidity.

"Ron, help me!" yelled Harry as the troll missed again.

"What?!" he yelled back.

"Anything!" shouted Harry as the club brushed past his hair. I signalled for Ron to levitate the club out of the troll's hand by doing the swish and flick motion that we had learnt in charms. He nodded and looked up at the club determinedly.

"Winguardium…Leviosa!" he yelled hesitantly. I watched as the trolls club hovered in mid air. Then Ron dropped it on its head, knocking it out cold. I crawled out from under the sinks and walked towards it.

"Is it dead?" I asked in a scared nerd voice.

"No just knocked out." Said Harry, removing the wand from the troll's nose.

"Gross, troll bogies." Said Ron, gagging at the sight. I put my hand over my mouth trying not to laugh and pretending to look disgusted.

"Oh Merlin." Said Professor McGonagall running into the toilets followed by a gang of teachers. Snape seemed to be limping. Seamus probably set fire to him or something.

"What in the name of Merlin are you two doing? Taking on a grown mountain troll! You could have been killed! Five house points from each of you." Exclaimed McGonagall.

"Excuse me professor but it wasn't their fault it was me." I said, coming out from behind the troll, holding back a smirk. Stupid old bat, a squib could kill a mountain troll.

"Miss Granger?" said McGonagall disbelievingly.

"I, er, I came looking for it, I've read a lot about them and thought I could take it on. I was mistaken. If Harry and Ron hadn't come looking for me….I'd probably be dead." I was laughing so hard on the inside it hurt.

"Well Granger, five points from Slytherin for that grave misjudgement. As for you two boys, five points each. For sheer dumb luck." She said, turning and walking out the door.

The next day I had healed my head and was sitting at the Slytherin table with the rest of the quidditch team. They seemed to like me. They must have noticed that I'm not a mudblood. Montague had given me a Slytherin quidditch robe and a broom that I could use until mine came through the post.

"You scared mudblood?" asked Malfoy; apparently he was my arch enemy. I sneered.

"It may interest you to know Malfoy that Granger is not a mudblood. In fact her father was a pureblood. Isn't that right Potter." Said Montague. I whipped round.

"H-How did you know?" I stammered. I was done for.

"My father was one of the Death Eaters who was arrested while taking you to Voldermort. He was let out a few months back. He told me all about you and your mark. And what that mark means." He said, moving my hair back to show the rest of the Slytherins the snake. I smiled.

"Then you must know what my first name is. From now on when I'm not around a Gryffindor you may call me Ebony. But please don't tell anyone else." I said proudly. Thank god they didn't think I was a mudblood. I don't think I could take the bullying, I'd end up hexing some one to oblivion.

"Don't worry little Valkyrie, your secrets safe with us." Said a fellow street rat.

"Bludger? What are you doing here?" I exclaimed.

"Same thing you are, eating breakfast, learning magic and keeping my identity hidden from all those who aren't my friends." He laughed.

"Valkyrie eh? Nice nickname kid. Yes I think that'll be our way of addressing you on the pitch. Hey Malfoy spread the word. Our beaters name is Valkyrie." Said one of the chasers.

Soon enough the word had spread through Slytherin that their beater's name was Valkyrie. I pondered how Harry and Ron would react if they found out my true identity as I walked down to the pitch, loaned broom in hand. We reached the changing rooms and I threw on my new robes as quickly as possible. It was bloody freezing in here. When we were ready we headed down the tunnel and waited for I to open.

"You scared Valkyrie?" asked Montague.

"Not really, why, should I be?" I asked.

"Oh yeah. First game I played I was chasing the snitch when a beater hit me in the face with his bat. Woke up in hospital a month later. Put me behind on my studies." He laughed. I gulped.

Suddenly music started playing and people started cheering. We mounted our brooms and kicked off when the doors opened. We flew around the pitch in an arrowed formation; I was next to Montague at the front, the other beater was one Montague's right.

We took our positions in a spiral shape, Gryffindor on bottom, Slytherin on top.

"Right everyone, I want a nice clean game." Said madam Hooch. As soon as she blew the whistle we were off. She opened the trunk up and two bludgers shot out. I tapped bats with John, the other beater and set off after them. We were up against the Weasley twins. I was quite good friends with them, knowing their brother and all. I often helped joined them on their pranks and helped them out with the more complicated aspects. They were under strict instruction not to tell anyone about my prankster side if I helped them.

I sent a bludger at Angelina Johnson. It hit her square in the stomach and she was launched backwards off her broom and into one of the stands. She actually went under the Gryffindor cover and toppled down to the ground. I high-fived Montague as we passed and set off ready to get my next victim.

Ten minutes went by and Montague instructed me to take out Wood. The Gryffindor captain. I obeyed and sent a bludger at him. It got him in the chest and he fell backwards through the hoop he was guarding and fell to the ground. This started the Slytherins chanting 'Valkyrie' they cheered every time I sent a bludger at some one. They didn't care whether it hit or not. I aimed one at Fred Weasley after he made fun of my hair as we passed. I got him too. Luckily he was close to the ground so I didn't seriously hurt him. George sent a couple my way but I deflected them off towards Katy Bell. She dodged the first one but I got her with the second.

The Gryffindors were losing badly. Even if Harry caught the snitch they'd still lose by a hundred. Eventually I took out their last chaser Alicia Spinnet which meant they were unable to score any more goals. The match was ours. Montague spotted the snitch and headed off after it. I sent a bludger at Harry to look like I didn't care about him during quidditch but I purposefully missed. I wasn't going to hurt the only family I had left. Suddenly Harry's broom started bucking and twitching. He almost fell off but managed to grab hold of the broom with one hand. I looked round to see Snape uttering spell over in the teachers stand. I flew down to the stairs unnoticed and ran up the stairs and to behind the benches. I grabbed my wand and set Snape's cloak on fire. Then I ran back down the stairs and jumped onto my broom without anyone but Ron and Hagrid noticing. After Harry was done trying to die he caught the snitch and ended the game. It was 450-340 to Slytherin. We touched down and I was immediately hoisted into the air and carried back to the castle on a hundred shoulders.

That night I slept in the Slytherin dorms. I was welcome to come down any time and was given the password. 'Salazar'. Very Slytherin.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter V: Nicholas Flamel**

"Ron Snape was limping! He was talking about not being able to keep an eye on all three heads at once! Of course he was talking about that...Thing!! What other three headed monsters in Hogwarts do we know about?!" exclaimed harry, exasperated that Ron still didn't get it.

"Ron listen, Snape was uttering a spell at the match, he wasn't blinking and he had his eyes on Harry. He was trying to kill him." I explained calmly. Ron nodded, finally seeing reason.

"Lets go see Hagrid, he's been here for ages and he's Dumbledore's friend, lets see what he says about all this. He was the person who collected the stone after all." Said Harry. We all agreed and headed down to Hagrid's hut.

"Harry, Ron, Hermione? Wha you doing ere?" exclaimed Hagrid stepping over a pumpkin.

"We want to know everything you know about the Philosophers stone." Said Harry bluntly. Hagrid's face went pale.

"How do you know about that? It's top secret." Said Hagrid, striding off across the grounds.

"That doesn't matter, right now all that matters is that Snape is trying to kill Harry and is trying to get the stone. He tried to get past the three headed dog and got bitten. He used the troll as a distraction!" I explained quickly. Hagrid turned to face us.

"Now I don't know what you guys have heard about Professor Snape but he is a good, respectable man and is doing as much as he possibly can to protect the stone, along with the rest of the professors. And he did not try to kill Harry." He said gruffly.

"But.."

"No buts! Snape did not try to kill Harry. And he is not going to steal Nicholas Flamel's stone or.... I've said too much, said too much. Forget everything I just said."

"Nicholas Flamel? Who's Nicholas Flamel?" asked Harry.

"That's none of your business, now go before I say anything else." Said Hagrid, walking off towards the forest.

We started off towards the castle, when we got to the main doors I decided to go back and see Hagrid.

"He guys, I think I left my necklace back at the changing rooms yesterday, I'll just go get it, you guys go on ahead I'll meet you in the library." I said, turning back and heading in the general direction of the pitch.

"Ok Mione, see you later." Said Ron, Harry nodded and they went into the great hall for lunch.

"Hagrid? You out there?" I yelled. Stepping over fallen branches and patches of nettles.

"Over ere Mione." Said Hagrid from behind a large oak tree. I walked over.

"Now Mione, I thought I told you that Snape is not trying to kill Harry and is most certainly not trying to steal the stone. Ok" he said forcefully.

"I know Hagrid and I didn't believe for a second that Snape would try and kill my brother. He was trying to save him. I heard the spell that he was muttering at the match and it was a counter spell. He was trying to fight off someone else's spell. Obviously it was one of the teachers because when I set Snape's cloak on fire the spell stopped and Harry got back on his broom." I explained. Hagrid looked at me angrily.

"The only other teachers in that box were Professor Quirrel, who's a stuttering wreck, Dumbledore, who's the least likely, and McGonagall who wouldn't hurt a fly. Even though she looks like she could scatter a pack of starving werewolves with one glare." He said gruffly. I could practically hear the cogs n his brain spinning madly.

"Well, seeing as you can easily put on a stutter, and he's new and Snape seems to be very suspicious of him I'd say it's him." I said reasonably.

"Very good Eb…Valk…Hermione." Sneered Snape, coming out of the shadows.

"What are you doing here?" I asked, jumping at his sudden appearance.

"I am here to make sure that your not trying to escape or get into any trouble. I saw you sneaking off into the forest and feared that one of the death eaters had been in contact with you." He said coolly. I mimicked his sneer.

"I'm not that stupid Sir. Please do not insult me like that again. And you may call me Hermione. Seeing as that is the guise I am going to be taking until Voldermort is dead."

"Watch your tongue Granger, you may be half Slytherin and under special protection. But that does not give you the right to speak to me like that." He smirked.

"Of course Professor. I am very sorry professor. Please don't detention me." I said in a scared little voice. Hagrid was very wisely backing away.

"I grow tired of your arrogance Granger. You may be the smartest witch of your age, half Slytherin and have power that rivals the dark lord himself. But you are still a stupid child that knows as much about life as a new born cockroach." He snapped. Hagrid had backed so far away that it was now impossible to see him.

"Really? You try living on the streets for nine years, starving to death in winter and braking out of juvenile prison twelve times, escape from a serial killer after being put through the most horrific torture known to man and wizard kind and then tell me that I know nothing. I could pick-pocket the entire school and no one would notice until I was out of the country. I could break into Gringotts bank, steal your entire fortune and then put it back again and no one would be any the wiser. Now tell me I'm stupid and arrogant. Now tell me I know nothing of life." I growled. By this time my hair had gone back to jet black and the place where my eyes should have been was now glowing a dangerous green colour. Snape stood there, mouth in a comical 0 shape.

"Good day Professor." I said, returning to Hermione and heading off back to the castle. As I pushed my way through the undergrowth I heard Snape say 'Stupid child. No one could break into Gringotts.' 'Time to prove myself me thinks.' Said a cunning little voice in the back of my head.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

The Plan

'Right. Plan, plan, I need a plan.' I thought to myself, pacing the library. 'Map, I'm going to need a map!' I thought, running towards the restricted section. I tried opening the lock with Alohemora but it just made a screaming noise that made madam Pince ban me from the library for the day. So I came back in a disguise and picked the lock the muggle way. Bludger had taught me how to do that on our first job together. He had shown me the ropes, taught me how to steal and get cash. We were robbing a small muggle shop named Woolworths. They didn't have a lot of cash but they had plenty of cloths and food. Anyway, I picked the lock and ran down the stacks and shelves of books until I spotted it. _Historical Buildings and Impenetrable Structures. _Which idiot put this in a school library? It had blueprints and notes on some of the biggest banks in Europe. Any moron could take this and go rob all the banks in England! But right now he was a helpful moron who was going to aid me in my plans. Not only was I going to steal all the records I could on the stone and Nicholas Flamel I was also going to show Snape just how much he had underestimated me.

_Gringotts bank is believed to be the single most secure place in the world, after Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. But this is not the case. You see the goblins that built the place left tunnels underneath the structure. Tunnels that lead out under Diagon Alley and up to the Leaky Cauldron. No one has seen these tunnels and all the goblins involved in the making of them were hunted down and executed. These tunnels were placed there so if ever there was an attack on Gringotts the goblins inside the building could make a quick escape with all the gold and valuables in the vaults. _

_But the tunnels are also an ideal way of getting into the building. The location of the entrance to one of the many tunnels is located in the last room on the right hand side facing the railway in the Leaky Cauldron. It is behind the fire place and has been sealed up for many years but is still functional. If you can get past the wards and protective spells you will have access to the richest bank in England. _

'Wow this is dynamite!' yelled a voice in my head. I quickly stuffed the book into my bag and headed back to the common room. I would wait until Christmas to execute my plan. After that I would have all the information on Flamel and the stone I could wish for. As well as scaring the hell out of Snape. He'd pay for his grave misjudgement.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter VI: The Heist**

Everyone had left for their Christmas holiday. Harry had gone to Ron's; the whole Gryffindor tower had gone home to their families. Lucky sods. There were a grand total of three students left at Hogwarts. Bludger, who like me had no one, a Slytherin prefect and a Ravenclaw third year. Some of the teachers had also gone home for the Christmas break. So there was only about ten people left. Luckily for me Snape hadn't gone home to his castle in Transylvania this year.

It two days to Christmas and Gringotts had closed for the night. I stood outside the leaky cauldron putting the finishing touches to my disguise. I was dressed as an old woman with a huge nose and three hairy warts. I looked just like any other ugly old lady. I walked in and limped up to the bar.

"Hello young man, I'd like a room please." I said, the hunch back turned and stared.

"Er, yes, any particular room madam?" he asked in a deep voice.

"Er, could I have the room at the end of the hall on the right hand side. I rather like to watch the trains go by you see and I hear that it's the best room for that." I said in a croaky voice, flashing him my rotten teeth. He visibly recoiled.

"Er, yes madam, I think that rooms free. That'll be ten Knuts for two nights. Or five for one." He said, standing as far away as possible.

"Just one night dear, I have to meet my daughter tomorrow at Gringotts. I'm paying for her wedding." I said in mock annoyance.

"Alright, here are the keys. Upstairs on your right. Number fourteen o eight." He said, handing me the keys and pointing to the stairs. I nodded and limped over to them.

When I got to my room I dropped the disguise and went back to my normal, pale, black haired self. If Hermione Granger was seen here she'd get carted off back to Hogwarts or to her non existent parents. But if the real me was seen then no one would think anything of it 'just another street rat.' Or 'must be an orphan, stupid child.'

It took me four hours! To take down those wards! FOUR HOURS! And then I had break through the solid brick wall! Merlin this whole operation was more trouble than it was worth. 'Maybe I should steal a few quid from some Death Eaters'…no that would be a stupid, reckless thing to do….' And then her street rat instincts burst out of the cage that they had been living in for the past four months. She felt a new determination to do some stealing. 'Just think Ebony, you can use it to buy quidditch supplies….and you can use it to buy school supplies, and books… so this will help you in many ways. Don't take too much…just a thousand galleons from rich death eaters. it'll be easy and no one will notice.' Said a small voice in her head. She was convinced. She would steal a few things for herself. Because, really, breaking into a high security bank so you can freak out your Potions master is kind of stupid and a waste of time.

I crept silently through the tunnels. The were originally built for goblins so they weren't exactly big. If I had been a couple of inches taller and a stone bigger I wouldn't have been able to get through. But not eating properly for the past nine years does make people very small and agile.

The tunnels went on forever. It was dark, smelly and claustrophobic. Numerous rats and bugs ran past me. I was getting dusty and probably looked like a chimney sweep by now. But I pushed on regardless or the spiders and cobwebs. It was now eleven thirty five at night. Or at least that's what my muggle watch said. It had luminous hands so I could see the time in the dark. And I was beginning to tire. I had been up since six preparing everything I would need for the big Heist.

It was now twelve in the morning. And my back and knees were killing me. I had imprints of sharp pebbles in my legs and hands and my head was bleeding from where I had freaked out earlier because a massive spider had tried to bite me. Merlin was I tired. I was seriously contemplating just dropping dead right there in the tunnels. But then I pictured the look on Snape's face when he woke up one morning and found his entire fortune sitting on the end of his bed with a note saying happy Christmas in blood. This made me even more determined and chased away my tiredness.

Twelve fifteen in the morning and the tunnel finally opened up onto a dark stone wall. I broke through and out into a dark corridor. I noted where the booby traps were and pressed on. Thankful that I finally got to stretch my legs and back.

I tiptoed down the corridors and stepped out into a massive lobby. There were large desks lining the edges of the room. I ran down the middle of the hall and through a two large, black, bolted doors. Obviously I unlocked them first, which was even easier than the restricted sections lock. They must have bought it two hundred years ago when muggle lock picking was unknown to wizards.

I jumped on a little cart thing and headed for the countries records section. It was massive. I skimmed along the books and notes until I finally found a book on Nicholas Flamel. And then at the very end of the last book shelf a book on the Stone.

Next I headed for Snape's vault which I had found out from a very helpful goblin book in the records room. It was vault number 714. Right next to the one that the stone had resided in. Yet another thing that would freak him out.

When I got there I quickly picked the lock, took down the much easier security charm and walked inside. Inside was a mountain of gold and jewels. 'Merlin this guys rich! Perhaps he should use some of these funds to buy some shampoo. Hmm, next prank I think. Get Fred and George to help me fill up his private quarters with bottles of shampoo.' I laughed at the idea of my next prank. 'That would piss him off. We'll have to find a way to become invisible so we can see the look on his face.'

I pulled off my shoulder bag and put an undetectable enlargement charm on the inside of it. It would hold the eifle tower now if I wanted. I levitated the gold and sent it whizzing into my bag. When it was all packed up I walked out and closed the door. The charms replaced themselves immediately. Next I went to Bellatrix Lestrange's vault. I didn't take too much from her. Just a couple of thousand galleons. It's not like she'll notice. A: she's in Azkaban and is unlikely to get out any time soon. And B: she has loads of it any way.

Next I visited the Malfoy's vault. It was packed full of all sorts of jewels and masses of gold. 'Rich stuck up bastards.' I thought as I picked up a ruby the size of my fist. Suddenly an alarm sounded and the door began to close. I grabbed the ruby and five other jewels and sprinted for the door. Shoving the jewels into my bag and flinging it around my shoulder I jumped through the tiny gap remaining. The door slammed shut just after my foot was through.

"Holy shit! That was close!" I said out loud. I heard voices coming from my right and panicked. 'Oh. My. God. RUN!'

I ran through the corridors. Footsteps behind were gaining on me. I dived to my left as some one shot a curse at me. I quickly changed into someone that no one would recognise. Then I dashed past my attackers and to my left. I ran down a familiar hall and towards the lobby. I could hear another two pairs of footsteps join the chase. I ran past the desks and towards the corridor that led to the tunnels.

I sprinted down it and threw my self at full speed into the tunnel. I crawled at full speed down the tunnel. Cutting my legs and hands on the jagged stones as I passed. I closed the tunnel behind me just before the people could get through. I kept going at full speed until I reached the leaky cauldron. I grabbed my things, got rid of the dust on my cloths and in my hair and healed my cuts before running out the door and down the stairs.

I ran out into the cold night and ran down an alley to the place where I had hidden my new broom. I leapt on it and kicked off at high speed. I soured upwards into the clouds. It was freezing up there and I didn't have a coat. But I didn't care. If I got caught then I would be in so much trouble.

I got back to Hogwarts at twenty past seven. I was cold, wet from the rain and tired. I flew towards the Gryffindor tower and opened the window. I clambered inside, put my broom away and collapsed onto my bed, fully clothed, and fell fast asleep.

I woke up just before dinner. I had a quick shower, changed and headed downstairs to the great hall. I was starving after last nights escapades.

The food was great. Bludger and I sat at the table discussing my newest prank. He even offered to help out but I quickly pointed out that if he got caught helping he could get put in Azkaban. Mainly because they'd think he was the brains behind the operation and would probably think he'd put a spell on me. No one would suspect know-it-all Granger.

I crept silently through the dungeons and towards Snape's private quarters. I had followed him once so I knew his password and where they were. I tiptoed up to the tapestry of a snake killing a lion and uttered the password.

"Transylvanian Oasis." The tapestry started to glow bright green and I stepped through.

His quarters were….well not what I had expected. They were green and black obviously. But there was a lot of blue too. 'Closet Ravenclaw Professor?' I thought. But his quarters were…I don't know…welcoming. He had a huge library and large leather sofas and chairs. He had a large kitchen and a big ornate fireplace. 'Now I see why his password is Transylvanian oasis.' I thought smiling.

I headed up the spiral stair case silently. I opened all the doors until I found his room. It was green and with the Slytherin flag hanging above his bed. His duvet and sheets were black and he had a blue comforter. I set to work. Placing a silencing charm around his bed so he wouldn't hear what was going on.

I set up the prank quickly and silently. His entire fortune sat on the floor and around the room. I pricked myself with a sharp quill and wrote _Merry Christmas Severus._ In my blood. Then I placed the number of his vault underneath it in neat handwriting and left.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter VII: The Aftermath **

Severus' POV

I awoke in my usual position. Lying on the floor with the bed covers wound tightly around me. I couldn't remember the nightmare that had caused me to end up in this uncomfortable position. They were always the worst. The ones you can't remember.

I stood up slowly, rubbing my eyes and untangling the duvet. I yelped and leapt backwards as I noticed the gold and jewels that littered my room. I couldn't see anything through the gold. If I hadn't been sleeping in these rooms for nearly nine years now I wouldn't have been able to get out.

On my way out I noticed a small piece of folded parchment. I picked it up. On the front it said _Severus Snape_ in neat red ink. I opened it to see the words _Merry Christmas Severus._ I quickly realised that the writing was in blood. I paled and grew cold. Shivering all over I recognised the gold. It was my gold! My jewels! OMFG! m-my gold?! Then it hit me. He knew. He must. My vault was next to the Stones. He knows I'm a spy! With that my vision went blurry and dark.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Ebony's/Hermione's POV

I woke up on Christmas with a mischievous grin. I wish I had stayed in his rooms so I could see the look on his face!

I jumped out of bed threw on some cloths and dashed down the stairs.

I ran down the moving staircases, heading for the great hall.

"Miss Granger. Could I have a word with you in my office please." Said Dumbledore. Appearing in front of me. I skidded to a stop. Just avoiding crashing into him. I nodded and followed. 'Busted.' Sang a small voice in my head. I chuckled inwardly. 'I must have got him pretty good if he went to Dumbledore for help.' I thought proudly.

"Chocolate Marshmallow." Said Dumbledore in his usual kind voice. 'He doesn't sound too mad. We might be ok mate.' Said the voice again. I agreed. But perhaps Dumbledore was just keeping up appearances. Perhaps he was lulling me into a false sense of security. I followed him silently up the stairs and into his office.

In the corner of the room sat a quivering, mess of a man still in his pyjamas. It was Snape. I gasped, and clapped my hand over my mouth. 'Maybe we went a little too far perhaps. Anyway, I'm off. Your on your own mate.'

"Do you know anything about the prank that was played on Professor Snape this morning?" asked Dumbledore. His voice was calm but he spoke sternly. I paled even more, and my features went back to being Ebony rather than Hermione.

"Y-yes Sir. I-It was me Sir. But I didn't mean for him to get like this. I just wanted to prove him wrong Sir. Really if I had known…." I trailed off.

"Known what? Miss Potter known what?" he asked. Tears slipped down my cheeks. I felt so bad. I wished the floor would just open up and swallow me whole. I stared at my shoe laces, willing myself to stop crying and get a grip. I had been through worse. But, I don't know. Hurting someone like that made me feel evil.

"Miss Potter. Do you know that Severus is a spy for me in the ranks of the death eaters?" he asked softly. My head shot upwards.

"W-what?! N-no I-I didn't know." I half sobbed.

"But if you had known you wouldn't have played that trick?" he whispered.

"Yes. I would have just left him alone." I replied guiltily.

"And if you had known that this would have had such a big effect on Professor Snape then you wouldn't have done it." he said even quieter. I shook my head.

"I understand. Do not worry. I know you just wanted to prove him wrong but maybe you should have gone with the shampoo idea." He smiled.

"H-How?" I stuttered.

"Many students have thought about that one. But no one has attempted it. perhaps when Snape is back to his normal self again you and the Weasley twins can pull that one." He laughed. I nodded. Tears drying.

"Right. We shall pretend this never happened and I will not punish you for it because I can see that you truly regret it and that the guilt alone will be punishment. But let me make myself clear when I say you are never to pull a stunt like that again. Ok?" he said, firmly. I nodded.

"You have my word Professor. And I won't tell anyone about Snape being a spy either." I said.

"Good girl. You may leave. I hear that the house elves have put on an extra special breakfast today." He said heartily. I nodded and sprinted from the room.

Forgetting breakfast ran down the many flights of stairs to the dungeons. I practically shouted the password at the statue from across the hall and leapt through the hole and into the Slytherin common room.

Inside sat Bludger. His real name was Marcus Flint but I preferred Bludger. He jumped up when he saw me burst through the wall and into the common room.

"Valkyrie? What's the matter?" he said, running over to where I had fallen. I was sobbing so hard that it hurt.

"S-S-Snape I-I-I h-h-hurt h-him. H-He w-was s-so s-s-scared…." I couldn't finish what I was saying through the tears. Bludger picked my up and plopped me down onto he sofa. He sat down next to me and let me cry on his shoulder.

When I had finally calmed down I explained what the prank had done to Snape. Flint sat there in shock. Firstly he had never seen me cry and secondly he couldn't believe that a school girl's prank had done that to Snape.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter VIII: Busted**

After a week of recuperating in his rooms Severus Snape was back to his usual, sarky, sneering self. He patrolled the hallways, cloak billowing, scaring first years and terrorizing Gryffindors. Ebony was back to her old self as well. Still under the guise of know-it-all granger she roamed the hallways with her two best friends, Harry Potter and Ron Weasley. She pulled a few pranks with the infamous Weasley twins and helped the Slytherin team go to the top of the table. She also presented the information she had stolen on the Stone and Nicholas Flamel to Harry and Ron. She disguised it as a book so they wouldn't become suspicious.

"Are you kidding me Hermione? Of course we want to help you! We've wanted to pull that one on Snape for years. We just never found out where his rooms were." Said Fred and George in unison. It was funny when they spoke at the same time, or finished each others sentences.

"Cool. Right here's the plan…." Hermione explained her plan to the twins and then departed, heading down to dinner.

"Ow! Hermione that's my foot!" whispered Fred as they stumbled along the corridor. Hidden under the stolen invisibility cloak Hermione and the twins headed for a secret passage that led out f Hogwarts and into Honey dukes cellar.

"Go left at the painting of Sir Cuduggon." Whispered George. They took a left and tiptoed down the corridor and towards the statue of a hunch backed witch. They walked behind it and muttered something and a passage way opened up in the back of the statue.

"Ladies first." Whispered the twins. Hermione ducked out from under the cloak and into the passage way. The twins followed her in and the door sealed shut.

"How are we supposed to get back?" asked Hermione.

"And I thought you were smart. We just say the password again when we get back and it opens." They replied, smiling.

"…..I knew that." Lied Hermione.

The traipsed down the dark passage, twins in the lead. The jokes and contemplated Snape's reaction when he got back to find his rooms full of hair care products. Because, after all, they would have front row seats when Snape explodes. On the way they also figured out the best way to get out of the rooms before Snape found them. So far they had wait until he was asleep or floo out of there. They also had stand next to the door so when he came in and exploded they could watch then run.

Finally, after half an hour walking, they came to the trapdoor that led into Honey dukes cellar. Fred went first, opening the trapdoor and disappearing into the dark. Next was George, and when he was through Hermione leapt upwards and grabbed Fred and George's hands who pulled her through. She was too short to reach the opening so they had to help her, it was rather embarrassing really.

"Welcome to Honey dukes. Officially you won't see this place until third year but we would be quite happy to bring you along on some of our little escapades to Zonko's to stock up on pranking material." Said Fred, lifting his hands and spinning round in a rather dramatic manner.

"Wow, look at all these sweets." Said Hermione, running over to the jars and crates.

"Can we take some back with us? Please?" begged Hermione, pulling her puppy dog face. Fred and George laughed.

"Yeah I guess so. We're going to need something to pull us through if we get caught by Snape." Laughed George. Hermione chuckled and sent a load of sweets souring into her bag. She had once again put an undetectable enlargement spell on the inside of her bag so it could hold gallons of stuff.

"Come on. We need to get this shampoo and get back to the tower before anyone misses us." Said Fred, grabbing his twin and Hermione and heading for the stairs.

They appeared behind the counter in the sweet shop. They managed to slip out of the shop unnoticed and headed out into the street.

They trudged through the thick snow, pulling their cloaks tighter around them. Hermione wrapped her scarf around her nose and mouth and followed the twins towards the beauty shop. Apparently all the popular kids hung out here when they went to Hogsmead so Hermione made a mental note never to come near this place if she could help it.

They stepped inside the small shop. It smelt like feet and strawberries. Hermione went up to the girl at the counter and smiled sweetly.

"I'd like to buy all the hair care products in the store please." She smiled sweetly again. The girl behind the counter glared.

"Look kid. You don't have the money to buy all the hair care stuff in the store. So get out and stop wasting my time." She spat angrily. Hermione let the smile fall of her face and replaced it with an angry glare. The girl stepped back a little at the death stare. Hermione dug her hand into her trouser pocket and pulled out a bag filled with five galleons.

"I believe this will be enough. Now, would you mind awfully shutting up. The glare from your overly bleached teeth is giving me a headache." Hermione sneered in a very Malfoy like manner. The girls eyes started to well up, a couple of tears slid down her orange cheeks leaving streaks in her foundation.

"Stop crying, you look like an orange that's been attacked by a potato peeler." Sneered Hermione again. 'Wow, two sneers and two hurtful comments in thirty seconds. That's a new record.' Chuckled a voice in her head.

The girl watched as Hermione, Fred and George packed up the shampoo and left. When they got back to the tunnel George rounded on her.

"Did you have to make her cry like that?" he asked, half angry.

"No, but she was really getting on my nerves. I hate it that people automatically assume that I have no money." Replied Hermione. This was very close to the truth but they didn't know the whole story. George let it drop and they trudged back to the castle.

Fred and George followed Hermione to Snape's rooms. He wasn't back yet. Fred and George had got Peeves to set up a diversion that would keep Snape away long enough for them to set up the prank.

Hermione uttered the password. Which Snape still hadn't changed and they walked in. They opened the bag and summoned all of the hair products out of it. they flew out and circled above their heads. Hermione directed the towards all different parts of the downstairs and upstairs. Making sure that most of them were in the living room, seeing as Snape would see them first.

When Hermione heard the door opening she ran over to the twins and threw the cloak over them just before Snape noticed them.

Snape walked into the room, drenched from the water bombs that Peeves had been throwing. He walked through the hall and stopped dead still in front of the living room. Hermione and the twins had a clear view of his face. It had gone from white, to red to purple in a matter of seconds. He then exploded in torrent of profanities and arm flailing.

"What the fucking hell!..." and so on and so forth. The twins and Hermione had stopped breathing by this point. The display the potions master was putting on was hilarious and it was all they could do not to give themselves away.

Suddenly Snape turned around and stared at the spot where they wee standing. Hermione had let out a rush of air and a little hiccup and was about to pay the price. They tried to escape via the door before the potions master strung them up by their big toes in the forbidden forest but they were too late. He stunned Fred and George and grabbed Hermione by the scruff of the neck, lifting her off the ground and dangling her flailing body in front of him.

"Let go of me." Hermione shouted but the potions master merely sneered.

"How dare you break into my private rooms and defile it with your disgusting pranks." He spat venomously. Hermione sneered. Fred and George were coming round but Snape shot a binding spell at them that tied them together.

"You take yourself way too seriously Professor. We were merely suggesting that you might want to have a bath or a shower once in a while." She smirked. Snape's face went from red to purple to blue this time. He threw Hermione's petite frame across the room and into a wall. She hit it and slid down, blood oozing from the back of her head. He then marched over to her and dragged her to her feet and hit her squarely in the face. Blood poured from her nose and eyes after he was finished beating her. The twins shouted and screamed at him to stop but he ignored them. She could no longer cry salty tears, only blood. She picked herself up off the floor, battered and bruised and hexed him where it hurt. He fell to the floor screaming in agony. When the professor was done writhing on the floor he stunned Hermione, grabbed the twins and flooed to Dumbledore.

Dumbledore was shocked by the sudden appearance of the Potions master, limping and carrying a badly beaten girl and two tied up twins.

"Severus! What did you do to her?" asked Dumbledore, striding over to the stunned girl that Snape was carrying by her collar.

"I can explain Headmaster." Spat Snape.

"Don't listen to him! All we did was prank him and he nearly killed Hermione when she answered back! You should sack him!" Shouted the twins. Dumbledore held up his hand, allowing Severus to speak. Once he had told the headmaster what had happened Dumbledore walked behind his desk and collapsed into a chair.

"Severus, you know you are in big trouble don't you. Beating a student like that is unacceptable. You are hereby suspended for a week. Your classes will be covered by me and you are to remain in your quarters." Said Dumbledore sternly. Snape nodded and revived Hermione.

"As for you three. You will receive a months worth of detentions that will be served with Hagrid out in the forest. And if you ever break into Professor Snape's private quarters you will be expelled. Do I make myself clear?" said Dumbledore firmly. The twins nodded and Hermione merely grunted. She was in far too much pain to do anything else.

"Now, Mr Weasley and Mr Weasley, would you take Miss Granger to the hospital wing. She is in dire need of medical attention." Said Dumbledore, shooting a glare at Severus. The twins nodded and after being untied Fred grabbed Hermione and lifted her up in his arms and they sprinted all the way to the hospital wing. Hermione lost consciousness along the way.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter IX: Revelations**

Two days later Hermione awoke with a splitting head ache and a dizzy feeling that led to two hours of non stop puking.

Finally after her stomach had settled and her head had stopped spinning she got up and left. She hated the hospital wing. It smelt like muggle disinfectant. Besides, she'd had much worse. So after much protesting from madam Pompfrey, she managed to limp up to the Gryffindor tower.

It was half three when she finally managed to crawl painfully through the portrait hole. She stood up shakily and looked around. She could just see through the dim light the outline of a red head and someone with messy hair sleeping on the sofas. She didn't want to wake them. Mainly because she didn't want to be bombarded with questions, but also because they looked so peaceful.

She crept past the sofas. But didn't notice the slimy green toad in front of her. She stepped on it and it let out a deafening shriek and bounced away. She toppled over backwards, trying to grab hold of a chair. Unfortunately she took it down with her, along with a vase of flowers, Harry's home work and a tapestry. She lay in a heap of cloth, hair and flowers. Harry and Ron jumped to their feet at the commotion, wands drawn and ready to fight.

"Hermione? What the hell are you doing here? You're supposed to be in the hospital wing for at least a week." He exclaimed when she pulled the cloth off of her head.

"I checked out. Never did like hospitals." She replied, trying hopelessly to get on her feet. Ron dashed forwards and hoisted her up by her arms.

"But you're still ill. You obviously have no sense of balance and are still trying to get the hang of walking again. I never knew Peruvian wizard's flu could do this to people. " Ron thought out loud.

"I'm fine Ronald, I'm just tired, that's all." Said Hermione, pulling out of Ron's grasp. Big mistake. Hermione took one step and fell to the floor again.

"Hermione, we know your ill, there's no use pretending. Now let us take you back to the hospital wing and we'll come visit you tomorrow. Ok?" said Harry in the sort of voice a dad used when you were being unreasonable. Hermione stared at her twins face. She wanted to just leap up and hug him, tell him who she was. But she couldn't, not yet. Merlin was it hard, maybe it was just the dizziness talking but Hermione was still having a hard time not crying.

"O-Ok." She sniffled, she suddenly felt helpless and deceitful, she didn't want Harry to think that he had no one left.

Harry and Ron carried Hermione back to the hospital wing between them. Luckily for them Hermione weighed about as much as a fully grown cat so they didn't have to stop to take a break on the way.

"Potter, Weasley, Granger? What, pray, are the golden trio doing out this late?" Sneered a bat like figure.

"Piss off Snape, we were taking Hermione back to the hospital wing. I believe that if a student is ill their friends are permitted to escort them to the hospital wing." Said Harry. Snape sneered and let them pass.

"Stupid greasy haired old bat. He's just pissed off because Fred, George and some girl put a load of shampoo in his rooms." Sniggered Ron. Hermione tried to hide a smirk but Harry spotted it.

"Hermione? Did you help out Fred and George?" Asked Harry. Hermione was shaking with silent laughter now.

"N-No of c-course not Harry, where did you get that idea from?" winked Hermione. Ron's jaw dropped and Harry burst into fits of uncontrollable laughter.

"S-Seriously?" asked Ron. Hermione chuckled and nodded.

"Anything else your keeping quiet Hermione?" asked Harry. Hermione paled slightly but decided it was best to tell him.

"Well, I don't have Peruvian flu, I got beaten up, I help Fred and George out with their pranks and I hate acting like a know-it-all." Said Hermione smiling.

"Then why do you?" asked Ron

"Because I'm the least likely suspect." Hermione winked.

Two days later Hermione was let out of the hospital wing by Madame Pompfrey. Like a true know-it-all she headed straight for the library. She was surprised to find both Harry and Ron pouring over the book Hermione had 'found'.

"Hey Mione. Feeling better?" asked Harry, without looking up from the book.

"Yeah, what are you doing?" asked Hermione, plopping down beside Ron.

"We are trying to figure out a way of stopping Snape from getting the stone. So far we've got to not letting him go near the mirror." Replied Harry.

"What mirror?" asked Hermione, perplexed.

"Harry found a mirror that let him see what he really wanted. He saw his parents and I saw myself as head boy, quidditch captain holding the trophy and you… I mean this girl really liked me…" explained Ron, ears bright red.

"Ok, where is this mirror?" asked Hermione.

"Through that door, down the corridor and to you left." Said Ron pointing to a door at the far end of the library.

"Ok, be right back." Said Hermione, dashing towards the door. She crashed through it and sprinted down the corridor. When she got to the door on the left she opened it slowly and peeked inside. No one was there.

She walked in and walked towards the mirror. It was covered up with a large golden cloth. She yanked it off and stared into the mirror. A blue mist swirled inside the mirror. When it cleared Hermione saw nothing. Just her reflection. No parents, no family. Just her. Suddenly a figure appeared out of the mist. Hermione gasped and fell backwards…

**AN**** Mwhahaha! I'm back! Sorry for the delay, I had writers block, then I got severly grounded for getting my tenth detention in two months. Anyway, I need you to take my poll thingy. It's to do with this story. I want to know who you think Hermione should fall for. I'm open minded so don't be afraid to put Snape or Voldermort. Thanks.**


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10: Sealed Fate**

A blue mist swirled inside the mirror. When it cleared Hermione saw nothing. Just her reflection. No parents. No brother. Just her. Suddenly a figure appeared out of the mist. Hermione gasped and fell backwards. A pale, almost transparent hand slid onto her left shoulder and held her with a vice like grip. It was a woman. She had black, untameable hair and a maniacal smile. She started to laugh, the sight sent chills down Hermione's spine.

Moments after the first figure had appeared another emerged slowly from the mist. His red eyes and deathly pale skin looked familiar. He had no visible nose, just two slits. He resembled a snake with elongated pupils. His black robes billowed around him. The sight of his hand slowly slithering to grasp her right shoulder made her feel slightly ill. And very, very cold. She reached up to touch his hand. Suddenly enchanted by him. He smiled, long, fang like teeth bared.

"Hermione? What are you doing?" asked a tired voice. She pulled out of her trance and whipped round.

"S-Sorry professor, I didn't know this room was off limits. It's just Harry and Ron told me about it and I was curious." She replied. Dumbledore looked sternly at her. Suddenly she felt a cold, evil presence in her mind. She could feel the hands on her shoulders. She paled and prayed that Dumbledore didn't know what she saw.

"Well Hermione. What did you see?" He asked, looking at her with his piercing blue eyes.

"I-I saw my parents. And my brother. We were just standing there happy," Hermione lied. Dumbledore didn't look convinced but didn't pursue it any further.

When Dumbledore left she heard a foreign voice in her head. 'Well done child. You shall make a worthy servant one day. Now go convince your brother to go and retrieve the stone. Perhaps tomorrow?' Hermione felt weird. She knew it was wrong. But the voice felt like it was part of her. She came to her senses and replied.

"No! I don't care who you are! This isn't right! What do you want with my brother!" the voice chuckled. 'Nothing my dear. I am merely trying to help you. But if you are not up to the challenge.' This got her. There wasn't a thing in the world that she wouldn't do if challenged.

"Fine. But if you lead him into danger I swear to Merlin I'll…" she stopped. What on earth could she threaten a voice with? 'You could try silencing me, my dear. I hate that.' It laughed.

"Thank you. I'll silence you. Somehow…" She said, not even convincing herself. 'Sure, well got to run.' It mocked and sneered.

"Brilliant, I'm going crazy! What next, Finding out that I'm secretly Severus Snape's soul mate!?" she spat, storming from the room.

Hermione Dawdled back to the library. Her mind was having a raging battle inside her head. One side supported the voice, the other thought it was evil and that she should tell Dumbledore immediately. Unfortunately for her conscience the Voice's side won.

"Hey Harry!" She shouted, running up to him, earning a glare from Madame Pince. He turned round and looked at me with quizzical eyes.

"I just heard Snape, hey was in the mirror room. And he was talking to someone. He was saying something about going to retrieve the stone in two days." She whispered, feigning exasperation.

"What! We have to warn Dumbledore! Now!" he yelled, leaping to his feet and sprinting for the door. Hermione and Ron hot on his heels.

They ran down to McGonagall's office, seeing as she was the only teacher they trusted with this.

"Professor! We need to speak to Dumbledore! Now!" Harry gasped, exhausted from running down six flights of steps.

"Now what on earth could be so important that you would burst into my office without knocking and demand to see the headmaster?" she glared.

"It's abut the philosopher's stone. Professor Snape is trying to steal!" Harry half whispered. McGonagall bent forwards, looking even more serious than usual.

"Now I don't know how you three came to find out about the stone, or how you came to the conclusion that one of the most trusted and respected members of the Hogwarts staff was trying to steal it from right under the headmaster's nose. But I have to tell you that the day Snape tries to betray Dumbledore and steal the stone is the day you can find me up on the roof singing 'I believe I can fly!'" she said sternly.

"But Professor!" Harry whined.

"No buts! Professor Dumbledore is in an important meeting and if I find out that you try to disrupt him I will have you do detentions with Filch for the rest of your days." She warned.

"now get out of my office before I take house points from each of you!" she said, returning to marking her essays. Harry stormed out of her office and stomped off down the corridor.

"And what, would three young Gryffindors such as yourselves, be doing inside on a lovely day like this?" sneered an overgrown dungeon bat.

"We were just going outside sir." Hermione glared.

"Oh really, well the two of you run along, I need to speak with Miss Granger." Scowled Snape. He turned on his heel and strode away. Hermione had to jog to keep up.

When they reached the dungeons Snape threw open the door to his office and pushed Hermione through.

"I know what you saw in the mirror." He said, looking a little concerned.

"S-Sorry?" Hermione said, confused.

"I know that you saw the Dark Lord and his best death eater." Sneered Snape.

"Oh… shit…" she said, it suddenly dawned on her. Then she exploded. A never ending string of profanities exited her mouth and she kicked the table with so much strength that it snapped and the desk fell over.

"Control yourself Potter!" shouted Snape, grabbing hold of Hermione's arm.

"But I've just convinced Harry to go and get the stone!" she yelled. Snape went pale. Well, paler. If that's physically possible.

"Well you'll just have to persuade him not to then." He sneered.

"Oh that's very helpful. Yes, state the bleeding obvious and hope the know-it-all doesn't notice." Hermione said angrily. She stormed out of the room, leaving Snape to ponder whether he should tell the headmaster. He settled on not. Hermione would figure something out.

"Harry, you can't be serious. I don't even know if Snape was talking about the stone. Please, You could get killed. Both of you! Why won't you listen!" Hermione yelled. But they acted as if she wasn't there. Wait, they couldn't hear her. She ran in front of them and started dancing. Nothing. It was like she didn't exist. She ran towards them, hoping to alert them to her presence. But she went straight through them. She picked herself up, off the floor and tried again. She went through them again. She screamed at them to listen. But they couldn't hear. She had been erased from existence. Forgotten. She fell to her knees and cried.

"Hermione. Hermione!" Lavender and Parvati shook her awake. Hermione's eyes were damp from tears and her bed covers had been thrown to the floor.

"W-What happened?" she asked, wiping the tears away before they noticed.

"You started shouting and thrashing around in your sleep. It took ten minutes to wake you up," Said Lavender in a timid voice. She was obviously freaked out.

"Oh, er, sorry…" Hermione said, embarrassed.

"What happened?" asked Parvati.

"I…er… I don't remember…" lied Hermione.

"Harry, please listen, this is the equivalent of suicide," Begged Hermione. Harry whipped round.

"Hermione we have to… if we don't Snape'll give it to Voldermort and he'll come back! We have to get the stone and give it to Dumbledore before Snape gets it!" yelled Harry. Hermione was running out of options.

"Fine, I'll help you, but one whiff of Snape or Voldermort or anything life threatening we're out of there. Ok?!" said Hermione.

"Fine." Said Harry, giving in. It was for the best, if he argued anymore Hermione would think of something that stopped him from going all together.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter XI: Preparation **

The golden trio entered Fluffy's room. Oddly the harp was already playing and Fluffy was snoring noisily.

"What the?" said Ron.

"Snape must have gotten here before us. Come on help me move his paw off the door." Said Harry, tiptoeing over to Fluffy. Just as the three of them were moving the paw the room went deadly quiet.

"Guys, isn't there supposed to be music playing?" asked Hermione, genuinely scared. The thing had three heads for god sake!!

"Oh shi…" Ron began, the three headed beast leapt to its feet, barking and snapping at the three first years. Harry managed to yank open the trap door and jump through before the dog bit him. Hermione and Ron were hot on his tail. Unfortunately for Hermione, being the last to jump meant that she was the most likely to get injured. Fluffy managed to slash her back as she jumped, ripping her cloths and leaving the large, claw shaped gashes in her back. She yelped at the sudden pain but kept the injury hidden from Harry and Ron.

They landed on something soft and squishy.

"Thank god for this." Said Ron, indicating to the seemingly inanimate object that had broken their considerably large fall. Suddenly there was a low rumbling sound and the soft ground beneath them started to move. Slimy tentacles bound their hands together and slithered round their necks and waists in an attempt to suffocate them. Ron and Harry began to thrash around screaming, Hermione however, stayed still and silent. Suddenly the thing let go of her and she fell through it.

"Hermione!!" screamed Harry. A small voice called out to them from beneath the plant like thing.

"Just sit still, it'll let you go!" she yelled. Harry obeyed and within seconds he fell through the plant. He landed on top of Hermione who promptly shouted at Ron.

"Stay still!" but Ron was too freaked out. The plant began to squeeze all the air from him.

"Think. Think!" said Hermione, pacing up and down. Suddenly she whipped out her wand and pointed it at the plant. A blinding light shot from the tip of it and the plant let out a blood curdling scream. It retracted its grip on Ron and he fell painfully to the stone floor below.

"I'm so sorry Ron, but you just wouldn't sit still!" said Hermione, apologetically as she helped him up.

The next room they entered was filled with chess pieces.

" Oh joy!" Hermione exclaimed sarcastically. Ron was in his element in this room. He was blitzing the opposition. But then he made a fatal mistake. He moved his queen into the path of a pawn. It demolished the chess piece. Now the other sides queen had a good shot at the king.

"Harry, you realise what I have to do." Said Ron, studying the bored. Hermione pretended to look confused, but I could see the dilemma that we were in. Either Ron sacrificed himself or we lost the game and Quirrel or Snape or whoever would get the stone.

"Ron no!" Harry yelled.

"I have to Harry, it's you that's got to go on and stop Snape. Not me, not Hermione. You!" he explained. Hermione nodded in agreement and gave Ron a comforting look, this was going to be painful.

"Knight to E5!" Said Ron shakily. The horse that Ron was currently sitting on moved forwards three spaces and to the left one space. Right in the path of the Queen. The queen turned to face Ron, who by now was looking very pale. She drew her sword and demolished the horse, knocking Ron to the ground with a very audible CRACK. Hermione went to go and help Ron but Harry stopped her.

"We're still playing, as soon as I take the king you can help him." He explained. She nodded. Harry walked up o the king and checkmated him. The king dropped his sword and Hermione

ran over to help Ron. He was bleeding badly so she set to work on healing the very worst. He had a deep gash on his head and another on his left leg. She temporarily healed them; she didn't know how to heal them properly.

"Hermione, take Ron and get help, I'll go on alone." He said nervously. Hermione nodded and hugged her brother quickly before levitating Ron.

Hermione ran up the stairs, past Fluffy's room and through a secret door in a bookcase. She was exhausted, the pain from her back coupled with the thousands of steps was agony.

"Miss Granger? What are you doing up so late? And why are you levitating an unconscious red head?" sneered the dungeon bat.

"Professor, I've never been so glad to see you! You have to help me! Harry is down in the Stone's room! He's in danger! You have to tell Dumbledore!" she pleaded. She gave him the 'deer in the headlamps' look and gave in.

"I will alert him immediately, meanwhile I want you to deposit Mr Weasley in the hospital wing then I need you to wait in my office." He said, forgetting to use his sarcasm. She nodded and sprinted off down the corridor. Snape did the same but in the opposite direction.

"Headmaster! We have an emergency! Potter has gotten into the Stone room and Quirrel is nowhere to be found!" Snape yelled up at the headmaster, who was in his rooms. He ran out in nothing but a mustard night shirt and purple socks.

"Merlin's pants!" said the Dumbledore. At any other time Snape would have laughed at the old fool, but now was not the time. Dumbledore practically sprinted down the stairs, dressing as he went. By the time he reached the bottom he was in his usual starry blue robes and oddly shaped hat.

"Severus, go and aid Poppy with the injuries to Miss granger and the boy, McGonagall and I will retrieve Harry." Shouted Dumbledore, running out of the door. Severus followed.

In the hospital wing Madame Pompfrey was fussing over Ron when Hermione suddenly became light headed. She stumbled forwards and fell flat on her face. The nurse turned round to see the cause of the noise and squealed at the sight of Hermione lying face down, blood pouring from her back.

Severus Snape billowed silently into the hospital wing, Granger had failed to meet him in his office. 'Stupid child!' he thought. 'Can't have the decency to do what she's told!'

"Oh Professor Snape! Thank goodness you're here! I need a strong blood replenishing potion quickly! Miss Granger has lost a lot of blood and the usual strength potions will not suffice for this manner of injury." Panicked Poppy. Snape sprinted to where Hermione lay. She was as white as a sheet. He felt her pulse, it was slow and almost non existent.

"Where is the wound?" asked Snape, searching for the source of the blood loss.

"On her back, I believe one of her arteries has been severed. I have managed to stop the blood flow with a few spells but they will not hold out much longer." Snape nodded and sprinted to the secret passageway in the store cupboard. It led directly to his lab.

Ten minutes later Snape returned to the infirmary, laden with different potions.

"Administer this immediately while I sort out the others." Said Snape, handing the nurse a red vial. She did as instructed while Snape performed some spells on the wound. He the poured a green potion onto Hermione's injury, it bubbled and hissed and green smoke clouded their view. When it had cleared the wound was gone and all that was left was three scars where the beast had attacked her. Then Snape poured a blue potion into Hermione's mouth and waited.

Ten minutes later Hermione started to cough and splutter. Snape sneered and handed her some water, she drank deeply.

"I believe I asked you to meet me in my office Miss Granger." He glared. She finished drinking and glared back.

"And here I thought that nearly dying of blood loss would spare me that torture, I'll remember that next time I'm trying to get out of a detention." She mimicked Snape's sneer.

"I would be a little more polite if I were you, seeing that I just saved your scrawny arse from bleeding out." Snarled Snape.

"And then you would just sneer at me for being a chicken and make fun of the fact that I'm a teacher's pet. So really being rude is the only way anyone can have a half decent conversation with a stuck up old dungeon bat like you." She retorted.

"Well observed Granger, but just remember that I am the teacher here and can issue the most horrific of punishments." He bared his oddly sharp teeth.

"Please Professor; don't make me read Cinderella to you again." Hermione whined in a childlike voice. Snape huffed and turned to leave.

"Professor….T-Thanks for saving my 'scrawny arse from bleeding out'." Said Hermione, looking like she had just swallowed one of Goyle's sweaty quidditch socks.

"You are welcome granger." Snape said, without sneering. They both nodded and turned away.

**3 Days Later**

Hermione walked silently down to the potions master's office. The note, delivered by a house elf, held tightly in her hand.

She reached the door and knocked half-heartedly. She really did not want to go in there.

"Come." Said Snape's muffled voice from inside. She opened the door slowly and peeked inside. The room was dark, all the windows were shut and covered. The only light present came from several torches around the room and a lamp on top of the Professor's desk.

"Miss Granger, as much as I despise your presence in my office, it is necessary that you actually enter the room. Rather than standing in the doorway." Hermione jumped, she hadn't spotted Snape standing about five feet to her left. She entered the room quickly, closing the door behind her.

"Miss Granger, do you know why you are here?" asked Snape.

"I'm assuming it has something to do with the mirror." She said in a bored voice.

"You are correct. You may not realise, but seeing the dark lord in the mirror is NOT a good thing. You see that mirror, shows what the Soul desires most above everything else. The mirror also shows what can and most likely will happen in the not to distant future." Hermione nodded.

"But why did I see his death eater, and not just him?" She asked.

"Well, it could either be because she will become like a mother to you if you join the dark lord, or because you will become a favourite of the dark lords. But that is not important, the important thing is that you do not make the same mistake I did. That Voldermort does not get his hands on you." Snape growled.

"But if that mirror shows the future, my future, then there is no way to stop it. So any lessons or protection will be a waste of time." She reasoned.

"No, any lessons or protection will not be a waste of time, they will be useful and bide us time to prepare you for what service to the dark lord will be like. So we will begin today, first we will learn occlumency, then defensive spells, then offensive spells and dark spells. After we have covered them then I will train you in the art of wandless magic and fighting. By the time the dark lord gets to you, you will be too strong for any of his mind games, will be able to survive his tortures and defend yourself when the time comes to defeat him. And seeing as you are the chosen one, not your brainless brother, you will need to be prepared." Snape explained.

"Right, so occlumency first then?" said Hermione, looking a little scared.

"Yes, first I would like you to clear your mind."

Three hours later Hermione was exhausted. She had a splitting headache. She had suffered eight nose bleeds during that lesson and had barely gotten anywhere.

**2 Days Later**

"So what you doing during the holidays Hermione?" asked Ron, stuffing his face with every flavour beans.

"Not much, homework I guess. I think my parents were going to take me to Wales this summer." She replied, she was sorely tempted to say she was going to be spending her holidays locked in a dark room with Snape playing mind games and sneering but she didn't want to give the game away.

"Sounds fun." Huffed Harry, he was sulking because he had to go back to the Dursley's.

"Don't worry mate, mum said you could come over for the last two weeks of the holidays if you wanted." Harry's face lit up and he nodded enthusiastically.

The train screeched to a stop in platform nine and three quarters. The three of them leapt off the train and raced to collect their trunks.

When they got through the barrier Harry and Ron raced off to their respective families, leaving Hermione to wallow in self pity. She pushed her trolley towards the exit to search for Hagrid. But he wasn't there, but what was waiting for her would put Ron and Harry in stitches for the rest of their lives. Severus Snape in a salmon pink shirt and blue shorts. His trainers looked a bit green and he seemed to be very self conscious of his legs. Hermione burst out laughing, people walking past gave her very strange looks but she was too busy wiping tears away to notice.

"What do you find so amusing Granger?" asked Snape, appearing behind her.

"I'm sorry sir but pink?" She started laughing again, Snape snarled and pushed her off down towards an alley.

When they were away from prying eyes he rid himself of the salmon shirt and shorts and his normal attire appeared in its place. Hermione breathed deeply, trying to ease the painful stitch in her side.

"So why are you here sir?" She asked, regaining her composure.

"Because I want to begin lesson two." He replied, vanishing her luggage and grabbing her shoulder. They apparated to a deserted clearing in a strange forest. The was nothing there except a tent and a deck chair next to the remains of a campfire.

"Didn't know you like camping sir?" Hermione joked, Snape glared and entered the tent.

"We are here because the spells that we need to perform in order to train you cannot be performed inside Hogwarts for safety reasons. That is why we are here. It is deserted, there are no people therefore no one to maim or kill."

"Great, stuck in a tent with you for nine weeks. What on earth did I do to deserve this?" said Hermione, looking upwards and sighing.

"At least you can drop the disguise." Said Snape, absentmindedly, Hermione just stared at him. Snape realised that he had forgotten to sneer and turned round.

"…Because your ridiculous bushy hair and teeth make you look like a beaver in need of a haircut." He sneered, Hermione glared and trudged off to find a place to lie down.

Two hours later Snape found Hermione asleep under an old oak tree, advanced potions book clutched tightly to her chest. For the first time in ages Snape smiled, the poor child reminded Snape of him when he was a child. Always with his nose in a book, no real friends to speak of, and forgotten by the people he loved. The girl stirred from her sleep and looked up oddly at Snape. He coughed and put on a sneer.

"Dinners ready. Your lucky you got rid of that ridiculous hair, otherwise I may have killed you and cooked you up as supper." With that he turned away and went back into the tent.

"Stupid, greasy haired dungeon bat." Mumbled Ebony, picking herself up off the floor.

"I heard that!" yelled Snape from inside.

"I meant for you to hear it!" Ebony yelled back.

**2 days later**

"Ebony! Get up you dunderhead!" yelled Snape, walking into Ebony's part of the tent.

"Urrgh, ok, gimme a minute." Said Ebony, sitting up and wiping her eyes.

"You have half an hour to shower, dress and eat. I will meet you outside by the old oak tree." Said Snape, billowing out of the tent.

"Your late Potter. I expect better of you. Now Dumbledore has insisted that we skip a few subjects. He wants you to try your hand at transforming yourself into animals as well as changing your appearance." Explained Snape.

"Ok, and how do I do that?" asked Ebony.

"The same way you transfigure your appearance. You think about what you want to become and then transform." Ebony nodded and concentrated on becoming a wolf.

On hour later

"For fuck sake Potter your not even trying!" Snape yelled at Ebony, who was covered in snowy white fur.

"How about you try it then Mr I-know-fucking-everything!!" she yelled back.

Two hours later

"What exactly were you trying to become Potter?" Ebony looked up from the floor, she looked like a dog that had been shaved then badly burnt.

Three hours and a broken nose later

"Vell done Otter, now eef oo veel excuse me I haff to mend my nose." Said Snape, clutching his broken nose. Ebony had 'accidentally' head butted him when he commented on her potions skills. The enormous black wolf nodded and walked off towards the oak tree.

**A.N: Ok, not a great chapter I know but it's something. I still need all of you guys to take the poll on my profile or I'll just choose someone myself. Updates should pick up a little now cos the holidays are here and I have no friends. **


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter XII: Camping With Snape**

"Potter, I will not tell you again! Dinner is ready!...Potter?.....Ebony!?" Snape exited the tent. Ebony was nowhere to be seen.

"Shit! Bollocks, mother fucking dunderhead twat!!" yelled Snape, he ran full pelt into the forest.

"Ebony! Get your scrawny arse back here! Ebony!" Snape continued to sprint through the dark forest.

After ten minutes he heard the sound of fighting. He stopped and drew his wand, he began to stalk the person.

"Heeya! Ha....Ouch, crap that hurt." Snape peered through the trees, Ebony stood there nursing a bloody knuckle.

"Stupid thorns!" she snarled, suddenly her hair silky black hair began to blow in a non existent wind. Ebony became almost invisible to the untrained eye. A second later the tree that had cut her was nothing more than pencil shavings.

"Well, well, well. What do we have here? I think you are in need of some serious anger therapy." Snape joked.

"Shut it Snapey Poo, or you'll meet the same fate as that tree." Ebony sneered. Snape scowled and turned to walk away.

"Snape, I need help." Spat Ebony. Snape chuckled.

"And what exactly, do you need help with?" he sneered.

"I-I, ever since I transformed into a wolf I've been getting these bursts of emotion, like sudden depression or fury. I can't control them. And I'm scared that if it happens at school then I could hurt someone. Not that I care much for those dunderheads." Ebony explained.

"I see, could it perhaps be that you are simply..er...has anyone actually told you what happens to teenage girls?" asked Snape, getting slightly worried, he was not equipped for this.

"What do you mean?" Ebony.

"Oh dear, erm, well this isn't really what I wanted to teach you so I'll take you to McGonagall, or….somebody other than me." Said Snape panicking slightly.

"Oooh, right, that's what you meant. Yes I know about that. I mean this is worse. One second I'm happy as a squirrel on crack the next I'm considering throwing myself off a roof." Ebony smiled.

"Thank Merlin. Right, I think what your going through is a power exchange between the abundant part of your brain and the absent, powerful part of your brain. The unconscious part of your brain has, for lack of better expression, 'woken up'. This part contains knowledge and power beyond the capacity of your 'normal' brain. These mood swings should only last a few hours so there is nothing to be worried about." Snape explained cooly.

"Right, er, thanks." Said Ebony awkwardly before walking past Snape and back towards the tent.

"Your welcome..Ebony." whispered Snape.

**3 Days Later**

Ebony woke up early on the third day, determined to beat her professor to the shower. He always took ages in there; he woke her up then practically sprinted for the bathroom where he would spend most of the morning. And yet somehow his hair was always greasy.

Snape heard Ebony try to sneak past his bedroom. He jumped up, threw on his robe and decided to wake her up a little.

Ebony tiptoed past Snape's room, she heard a relaxing of bed springs and the rustle of a robe. Knowing the Professor liked scaring little children, she decided to give him a taste of his own medicine. Using her newly discovered powers she changed into a large, hairy spider. She had found out the hard way that Snape was not the biggest fan of spiders. She was now scrubbing dishes for the rest of the summer after levitating a spider into one of Snape's shoes. The scream he emitted had made it all worth it though.

Snape jumped out from behind the curtain that separated his room from the rest and roared. He stopped mid roar when he saw the hideous thing that lay before him. It was big, black and hairy. Snape screamed like a girl and ran back into his room. The spider, which was the same size as a young unicorn, followed him. He screamed again and scrambled under the tents wall and into the kitchen. The spider continued to chase him round the house until it had him cornered in Ebony's room.

"Calm down professor, the spiders gone." SadSaid Ebony, standing where the spider had been a moment ago.

"Potter, do not insinuate that I was not handling the situation in a calm and collective manner….I was merely…" he was unable to answer.

"Sure professor, whatever you say…" She laughed. Snape stood there and glared at the bed haired girl.

"As a reward for getting rid of the spider I will use the bathroom first today." She said, before sprinting to the bathroom.

"Conceited little witch…" Snape mumbled, before returning to his room.

"So, Sir, why the phobia of spiders?" asked Ebony, after a taxing occlumency lesson.

"I do not have a phobia of spiders…or anything for that matter!" snapped Snape, Ebony grinned and summoned a spider from outside. She held it up to the professor and he let out a small shriek and backed away.

"So, you just do that for fun do you?" asked Ebony, smiling wickedly.

"Listen here Potter! If anyone ever finds out about this I will have you hung by your eye balls in the dungeons above a pot of boiling hot acid!" snarled Snape, staying away from the spider.

"Oh, I wouldn't dream of it sir…" grinned Ebony. She put the spider outside and grabbed a parchment and quill.

"Sir, is it ok if I write to Harry and Ron?" asked Ebony, the professor merely nodded and waved her away.

**1 week later**

Ebony still had no reply from Harry, she had sent the letter out a week ago. 'What was keeping that dunderhead?!' she thought, furious at his lack of communication. Suddenly her thoughts were interrupted by the screeching of an owl. She looked up, expecting to see the snowy owl that belonged to Harry gracefully coming to a landing. Unfortunately it was not. Errol, Ron's delinquent owl flew head first into a near by tree and fell to the floor with a thud. Ebony laughed as she retrieved the owl.

"Here, take this directly to professor Snape." Ebony chuckled as she gave Errol a large garden spider. The bird flew into the tent with a whoosh. A second later she heard a very unmanly scream from the potions master and a smashing of plates. Ebony laughed evily and opened the letter.

_Dear Hermione_

_Sorry, I haven't heard from Harry since we left. I'm starting to worry. Fred and George say that we should give it a week, and if he still doesn't reply we'll go get him. Their planning on taking my dad's flying car. I'll let you know if he reply's or not._

_So how have you been, and how's camping with your parents going? I could never sleep in one of those muggle tents, their so small! Anyway, talk to you soon._

_Ron_

Ebony frowned, why hadn't Harry written to Ron? Those two were best friends. She shook her head and began writing a letter back.

**1 week later**

'Happy birthday to me, happy birthday to me. Happy birthday dear orphan, happy birthday to you.' Ebony sneered, she hated having nobody know her real birthday. But she knew that her fake birthday wasn't too far away. September 9th. Only two months.

"Your in a bad mood today, worse than usual. If that's actually possible." Growled Snape. Ebony just glared and stared at the floor.

"Happy Birthday Potter." Frowned Snape, handing her a small package. Ebony almost fell off her chair.

"W-What the hell? I thought you hated me!" she said, eyebrows lost above her hairline.

"I do not hate you Potter, neither do I like to see you in such a depressive mood." Snape almost smiled. Ebony frowned a little.

"Please stop calling me Potter, my parents never wanted me so I doubt they want people to identify me as a Potter." Said Ebony, her frown deepening.

"How do you know that? You were only 1 when they died." Snape sympathised.

"I remember my mother and father, I remember their hateful expressions when I laughed or cried. Harry had so many toys, he got all the attention, I got shouted at." Ebony sniffed, holding back tears. Her knuckles were white from where she was clutching the table. Snape remained silent.

"What would you like me to call you then?" asked Snape, managing to keep all traces of malice and sarcasm out of his voice.

"Well, I did have a godfather, Sirius Black I believe his name was. He was kind to me, even though I was only with him for a couple of months. And then after that Bellatrix Black took me in. So perhaps Black would be a fitting name, seeing as they are the only people that expressed love or caring towards me." Ebony thought out loud.

"Bellatrix Black?!" Snape almost exploded.

"That vile woman tried to give you to Voldermort! Did I not explain to you that she is one of his top followers!" he roared. Ebony snarled and leapt to her feet.

"Well maybe it would have been better if she had made it! because then we wouldn't be having this stupid conversation! I would be too dead to converse with anyone!" she yelled before storming out of the room. Snape sighed and opened the box containing Ebony's present. He stared dejectedly at the picture inside. It was a picture of Lily and James Potter, laughing and hugging two twin babies. He had stolen it from Hagrid before he had given Harry the picture album. Snape agreed that Ebony did have a point, Ebony was in one of those baby carrier things that you wear and the two parents were busy cuddling and playing with Harry. 'Ungrateful bastards.' Snape thought before replacing the photo back in the box and going to find Ebony.

**2 days later**

Ebony awoke in a cloud of feathers. Errol had flown into her room and managed to get himself tangled up in the mosquito net around Ebony's bed.

"Stupid owl." Ebony growled as she dislodged the bird from the netting. She grabbed the letter from its beak and sent it on its way.

_Dear Hermione_

_We went and got Harry yesterday. Those bastards had him behind bars in his room. He said that a house-elf had intercepted all our letters. And considering he knows nothing of wizarding servants or traditions I believe him. Any way mum, Harry the twins and my little sister Ginny (who's starting Hogwarts in 3 weeks) send their love. See you in 2 weeks at Diagon Alley. Ginny's dying to meet you, I told her all about you and she's infatuated with you. See you soon. _

_Ron_

Hermione chuckled at Ron's description of Ginny. She doubted that Ginny was really eager to meet her, but it was nice all the same.

**2 weeks later**

"Hermione!" yelled a familiar red head from across the street. Hermione whipped round and grinned. 6 red heads were all waving enthusiastically at her. She ran to greet them all.

"Nice to meet you Hermione." Said Mrs Weasley, pulling her into a bone crushing embrace. Ron's ears went bright red and he smiled awkwardly at his mothers actions. After she had greeted Mr Weasley and the twins the youngest red head smiled shyly at her. Hermione grinned and went to stand next to her.

"You must be Ginny." Hermione smiled. Ginny looked slightly scared and stuttered

"Y-Yeah, n-n-nice to meet you Hermione." Ginny mentally kicked herself. Why was it so hard to greet this girl!

After a few minutes Ginny finally plucked up the courage to talk to Hermione again. They quickly got into a conversation about quidditch and their favourite beaters and chasers.

"Do you reckon that you could play for Gryffindor next year?" asked Ginny.

"Er, sure, why you planning on joining the team?" asked Hermione, Ginny nodded enthusiastically and grinned.

"Yeah, I'm a real good chaser, shame you have to wait till your second year though." Frowned Ginny.

"Yeah, tell you what, when we get to school I'll recommend you to McGonagall. If she says no I'll guess I'll just sneak you down to the pitch when you want." Smiled Hermione.

"Seriously? You'd do that!" Ginny asked, shocked by Hermione's kindness.

"Yeah, seriously." Ginny launched herself at Hermione and hugged her. Hermione laughed, she was a little taken aback by the action but went with it.

"Told you she was infatuated." Chuckled Ron. Ginny let go of Hermione and glared.

"Don't be an arse Ronald." Glared Hermione. Ron's ears turned red and he looked a little ashamed.

"Wait a sec, you never swear!" said a familiar voice.

"Harry!" Hermione whipped round and hugged him.

"Harry! Everyone's looking for you!" laughed Ron, slapping him on the back.

"Sorry, got lost." Laughed Harry.

"Who gets lost in a fireplace?" Ginny joked.

"You've perked up, how come you keep running off at breakfast, you never seem to want to sit with me." Laughed Harry.

"It's not you mate, it's her." Said Ron, indicating to Hermione.

"It's because her owl always turns up at breakfast, didn't I tell you Ginny's infatuated with Hermione?" laughed Ron, Hermione glared and slapped him upside the head.

"Stop being so mean Ronald, maybe she just doesn't want to eat her breakfast with you and your stench." Ginny giggled and hid behind Hermione slightly.

"Ouch! That hurt!" complained Ron.

"It was meant to." Said Hermione, turning and walking to Flourish and Blotts with Ginny.

"How on earth can you control him like that? If I said that he'd just hit me." Laughed Ginny.

"Well, mainly because if he insults or hits me I'll hex him into last Tuesday. And because he knows he needs me to help him with his homework." Grinned Hermione. Ginny smiled.

**1 week later**

'Where the fuck are they!' Hermione screamed in her head. She sat on the last carriage in the last compartment like they had last year, looking frantically up and down the station. Finally she spotted three red heads boarding the train a few compartments down. She jumped to her feet and stuck her head out the door. To her surprise only Ginny and the twins got on the train. She waved to them and Ginny made her way down to her.

"Hey Gin, where's the others?" she asked confused.

"They were right behind us." Said Ginny, looking out the window. Suddenly the whistle blew and the train began to move.

"Shit! Where are they!" the two girls said in unison.

Ginny and Hermione sat laughing in their compartment for a good hour before they were disturbed by Draco Malfoy.

"Weasley." Nodded Malfoy.

"Granger, I need to talk to you. Quidditch business." He frowned.

"Sure." Said Hermione, following Draco down the train. When he got to his compartment he went inside and grabbed a package from the shelf above the seats.

"A gift from my father to the team, it's a Nimbus 2001, not even out in the shops yet. I'm a seeker this year so my father wants the best for me and the team." Sneered Draco.

"Thanks Draco, tell your father thanks as well." Hermione turned to leave but Draco stopped her.

"How can you live as a mudblood?" frowned Draco.

"I don't know, but I hate it. I also hate my real parents so there really is no real home or identity for me." Hermione growled, voice full of resentment.

"Come to my house for Christmas, my mother is eager to meet you. She remembers how my aunt spoke of you. She loved you a lot, like you were her own." Draco smiled. Ebony held back her tears, she couldn't cry in front of the Slytherin prince.

"She also asked me to give you this." Said Draco, handing Ebony a bulky envelope.

"She told me to say to read the one with the M on it first, so she can explain something." Draco said. Ebony nodded.

"Thanks Draco. See you at school I guess." Ebony sighed.

"Yeah, see you. Oh, and don't read those until your completely alone." Draco said, before sitting down.

Hermione returned to her and Ginny's compartment, unsure of what to think about the letters. She considered telling Snape or Dumbledore, but decided against it. 'They'd only take them away and try to brainwash me into forgetting' her brain sneered.

**A.N: Sorry about the Diagon alley bit, I thought it was pretty crap too. Anyway, I've added Tonks and Ginny to my poll so please check it out. **


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter XIII: Adopted**

After feast, when everyone had been taken back to their dorms, Hermione crept out of the common room and headed down out of the castle. She had 'borrowed' Harry's cloak so nobody would spot her.

When she reached the forest she ditched the cloak in a hollow tree and transformed into a black wolf. She ran through the forest for an hour before she reached her destination. She ran out into a dark clearing. She sat down at the edge of the clearing and pulled the letter from her pocket.

For an hour Ebony sat there, staring at the Malfoy seal. When she finally plucked up the courage to open it she was shaking like jelly in a earthquake.

_Dear Ebony_

_My name is Narcissa Malfoy. Before I was married I was part of the ancient family of black. Now, you probably do not know this but when you were one, two members of my family took care of you._

_The first was my cousin, Sirius Black, who now resides in Azkaban prison. The second was my younger sister Bellatrix Black. Or Bellatrix Lestrange as she is now called. She too resides in Azkaban. The reason I am telling you this is because not long after the holidays began I received a letter from my sister. In the letter she expressed to me how she had once had an illegitimate child by Tom Riddle. _

_This child, being born on the same day as Harry Potter, was cruelly snatched from her by Albus Dumbledore. The child was never seen again, but was rumoured to have been placed in the care of Lily and James Potter. _

_This my dear is why I am writing to you. You are the illegitimate child of Bellatrix Black. You are Part of the black family, therefore being part of my family. I desperately want to meet you and Bellatrix wants me to look after you until she gets out of prison. The second letter I have enclosed is the letter from your mother to me. If you do not believe me or do not want to believe me then I completely understand. But please consider what you'd finally be getting if you do want to become part of the family. _

_Yours sincerely _

_Narcissa Malfoy_

Ebony just sat there staring at the letter. She read and re-read it until her eyes stung. Then she picked up the envelope and withdrew the second letter. This one was written in much scruffier handwriting compared to the neat, extravagant handwriting of Mrs Malfoy.

_Dear Cissy_

_Long time no speak eh? _

_I was just writing to tell you I'm fine, and Sirius is ok too. We both miss freedom but there's not really much we can do about it. _

_Anyway. I lied, that is not the reason I wrote. The reason is…I have a child. It's Tom's child. She was born about twelve years ago at the end of July. I named her Ebony Rose. She was beautiful. But about an hour after I had gave birth Dumbledore and the order turned up and immobilized me and took her. Tom was livid and he vowed to find her at all costs. And he found her. The night he went to the Potters he wasn't going to destroy Harry, he was going to get her back. But he failed, he got sidetracked and wanted to take out all of the Potter's as a punishment to Dumbledore. And now I haven't a clue where the hell she is! _

_I'm so scared that Dumbledore has got her brainwashed in that Gryffindor tower and that when I get out she'll never accept me and will never love me. _

_Please find her, I'm sorry that I'm asking you to do this but I'm desperate. I miss her so much. I got her back for six months and it was the happiest time of my life! I went to try and find Tom so he could see her again but those bastards caught us and took her away again! _

_I know it may not be in your best interests to find her but please, do it for me. Remember, I love you and even if you can't find her I will understand. I have to go now because my pencils going blunt. _

_Love_

_Bellatrix_

Ebony stared at the letters. She couldn't believe it. She had a family, the headmaster. Who she had trusted with her very life, was lying and manipulating her. But most of all someone loved her. She smiled through her tears. She hadn't noticed that she had been crying but as she watched the tears slowly fall from her face and onto the dewy ground below she realised why she had seen the dark lord and his Death Eater in the mirror. They were her real parents, it was them that she longed for.. When she was finally out of tears and she had re-read the letters she finally noticed the sun peeking out above the trees.

"Shit." She growled, sliding the letters into her pocket. She took off back to the castle.

**2 weeks later**

"Hermione. Hermione! Are you even listening to me?" Ron practically yelled at her. Hermione shook herself and pulled out of her deep thoughts.

"S-Sorry Ron, I was just thinking." She spoke softly. Ever since Hermione had received those letters she hadn't been the same. She longed for the day when she didn't have to hide behind the mudblood. When she could walk the school with her black hair over her pale face and not worry about anything.

"It may have escaped your notice but Harry is missing!" Ron huffed, pissed off about being ignored.

"Oh, er, right. Let's go find him." Hermione stuttered. Ron grabbed a couple of sandwiches and they headed out of the great hall towards the Gryffindor tower.

On the second floor they found Harry. He was tracing something along the walls. Hermione started to hear a hissing sound. It came from the walls. It was saying something about killing. But she couldn't quite tell because Ron was talking so damn loud. Suddenly Harry sprinted past them following the voice.

"Harry, what the hell are you doing?!" yelled Ron, running after Harry. As they rounded the corner Harry stopped. He was standing ankle deep in water.

"What the…" Ron started, but he was unable to finish. On the wall was some writing. It was written in blood. It said_ The Chamber of Secrets has been opened, Enemies of the Heir beware._ But worst of all, strung up by her tail next to the writing, was Mrs Norris. Hermione snorted, by quickly disguised it as a gasp.

"Oh my…" came a voice from behind.

"Potter, what's this?!" growled Filch, then his eyes widened and his face went a nice shade of red.

"My cat! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO MY CAT!" he yelled, grabbing Harry by the throat.

"Argus. What's going on here?" said Dumbledore, appearing from the right. Armed with a gang of teachers. At the sight of the writing all the teachers paled. 'They know something we don't know.' Chimed a voice in Hermione's head. She grinned slightly and watched as the corridors filled up with students.

"My cat, look what he's done to my cat! You'll pay for this potter!!" screeched Filch. 'He's not happy.' Laughed a voice in Hermione's head.

"Please Professor, I swear it wasn't us." Stuttered Harry.

"Pardon me Professor, but perhaps these three were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time." Sneered Snape.

"Yes, that seems most likely." Agreed Dumbledore. To the left of Harry Draco had managed to push his way to the front of the crowd. He winked at Hermione before saying.

"Enemies of the Heir beware?! Your next Mudbloods." Everyone except the Slytherins flinched.

"To your dorms, everybody." Dumbledore boomed, everyone jumped at his harsh tone and dispersed.

Hermione joined the crowd of Slytherins heading down to their dorms. She was searching for Malfoy. He knew something about the writing. She found him flopped down on one of the black leather sofas.

"Black, how nice to see you." He grinned. Hermione glared.

"Spill it, what do you know about the writing, why am I hearing voices inside the walls?!" She sneered. Malfoy smiled and patted the sofa next to him.

"Sit down lassie and let me tell you all about it." He said, pretending to be a grandpa. Hermione sat next to him and signalled for him to begin.

"Well, you know about the four founders?" Hermione just nodded.

"Well, Salazar allegedly built a chamber of secrets before he left Hogwarts. He built it because he only wanted to teach Purebloods magic and not Mudbloods. So he built it and put this, well for lack of a better word, monster in it. And apparently when the heir of Slytherin returns to Hogwarts the Chamber will open and…Death to all Mudbloods." Malfoy cackled. Ebony grinned.

"Has it ever been opened before?" she asked, curious if her real father had ever opened it.

"Yeah, about fifty years ago. About when your Dad was at school." Malfoy grinned, reading her thoughts.

"That sounds fun, I better go or else The-Boy-Who-Can't-Even-Die-Properly and Ron will start to worry." Hermione sneered at the mention of her fake brother.

"Good luck with that." Malfoy joked.

**2 months later**

'HOW THE FUCK COULD YOU SCREW THAT UP!' yelled the voice in Hermione's head as she sat in the Hospital wing covered in fur. She rather liked the tail though. Hermione had tried to change into Millicent Bullstrode but it had gone wrong no she looked like a cat. She had made the guys some pollyjuice potion so they could go and find out if Malfoy was the heir of Slytherin. Which he wasn't. the only person in the school most likely to be the heir was her. And she didn't even know where the damn chamber was, let alone be able to open it.

Two days later Hermione was finally released from the hospital wing. Her fur was gone and her tail was non-existent

When she got up to the common room Harry was talking animatedly to Ron and pointing frantically at a black diary on the table.

"Hey guys, what's up?" asked Hermione, walking over to them.

"Harry found this diary in Moaning Myrtles bathroom an he wrote in it and it wrote back then it showed him a memory and…" Ron's face turned red from lack of breathing.

"Calm down Ronald. Harry, did the diary say who it belonged to?" asked Hermione calmly.

"Yeah, it said Tom Marvolo Riddle. Any idea who that is?" asked Harry, thoughtfully. Hermione paled.

"N-No, may I take a look though. It could be a prank or something." Hermione stuttered. Harry just nodded and handed her the diary. She almost sprinted from the common room.

She went back to the clearing in the forest after grabbing a quill and ink from an empty classroom. She opened the diary and started to flip through the pages. It was completely blank. She stared at it blankly for a moment before drawing to quill and ink from her pocket.

_Hello. My name is Ebony Rose Black. _She wrote neatly. The ink disappeared into the paper. For a moment the page remained blank before different writing appeared. The style used was almost exactly like hers.

_My Dear, you missed Riddle at the end of your name._ The diary said. Ebony paled a little before writing some more.

_So, you ARE my father._ She stated the obvious.

_Yes._ It said simply.

_And my mother is Bellatrix Black. Yes? _

_Correct, anymore questions regarding your parents or are you going to ask me what you REALLY want to know? _It sneered. Ebony frowned for a moment before putting

_Where are you?_

_That I do not know, I am just a memory in a book, I know nothing of the present. _It explained.

_Are you dead?_

_No, but I not alive either. _

_Are you evil? _She asked.

_There is no good, no evil. Only power, and those too weak to seek it. _

_Are you the heir? _

_Yes, as are you. But seeing as you didn't know how to open the chamber I used…a friend to do it for you. _

_What do you mean a friend? _She asked, scared of the answer.

_I mean a weak minded child that loves you so much I can use it to manipulate her into doing our bidding. _It explained. Ebony thought for a moment.

_What's their name?_

_I can't tell you that, but I can tell you that Dumbledore will no doubt try to petrify you. Just like Mrs Norris and the Creevey child, so watch out. _It said, Ebony frowned and was just about to ask more about it when she noticed the sun peeking up above the trees.

"Fuck sake! I really got to get a watch!" she snarled as she dashed back through the forest.

**2 weeks later**

"Granger! Quidditch practice! Now!" Yelled Malfoy from the bottom of the second floor stairs. Hermione frowned, she never had Quidditch practice on Fridays, but she followed regardless.

"What do you want Malfoy, because we both know we don't have Quidditch." She complained. She wasn't in the best of moods today.

"Shut it." he whispered as he dragged her out of the castle and towards the forest. When they reached the edge of the trees Malfoy looked around quickly before sprinting off into the shadows.

"Malfoy what the fuck?!" yelled Ebony, running after him. After ten minutes of running he finally stopped and leant up against a tree.

"It's Christmas holidays next week and my mother wants you to come home with me so you can meet us. The only problem is Dumbledore will be expecting you to stay here." Malfoy explained.

"Right, I could pretend I'm going to the Weasley's." She suggested.

"Won't work, father heard their off to Romania this Christmas." Malfoy sneered slightly.

"Oh, well…erm…" She couldn't think of anything.

"I could sneak out, I've done it before." Malfoy nodded.

"Where you going to go?" he asked. Hermione thought for a second. She guessed the safest option would be to use the secret passageway to honey dukes.

"The Three Broomsticks, I'll be the black mutt sleeping outside." She said, transforming into a scruffy dog so Malfoy would know what to tell his parents.

"Right, cool trick you got there Black." He smiled, sounding genuinely impressed.

"Thanks, can we go back now? If you hadn't noticed it is winter and I am only wearing a thin shirt and a skirt that's a little too small for me." Ebony grimaced.

"Yeah I noticed." Draco joked.

"I'm your cousin." She reminded him.

"Didn't you know that a lot of purebloods marry their cousins?" Draco chuckled. Ebony glared and dragged Malfoy back towards the castle.

**A.N: Woot! Two chapters in 2 days, go me! This chapter isn't that great but neither is the second year of Hogwarts, so I spiced it up a bit with the whole confusion over who her parents really are and if the Malfoy's are lying or not. Anyway, please please please take my poll, its on my profile. Thnx!**


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter XIV: Monopoly Related Violence**

The Christmas holidays were here and Ebony was panicking about how the hell she was going to get out of the castle without the guys or the teachers noticing. She decided upon hiding in the secret passageway for a couple of hours. But she was still worried that she would get caught outside the pub. Or that the Malfoy's would forget about her. Or that they wouldn't like her, family or not.

By the time it was time for her to go she was a nervous wreck. She grabbed her trunk and headed down to the statue of the hunch back witch. To her dismay the twins were there waiting for her.

"Where do you think you're going?" asked Fred.

"Yes, the train is that way." Said George pointing down the corridor.

"I know, I'm not getting the train. I'm going to a friends but I haven't told my parents or Harry and Ron." Lied Hermione.

"I see, and would this friend be a boy? Perhaps?" winked Fred.

"No she's a girl, but she's in Slytherin that's why I didn't tell Harry and Ron. They don't like me hanging around with Slytherins." That statement was only half true, but they bought it.

"Slytherin eh? Well I guess it would only be normal since you're on their Quidditch team." Sighed George.

"Well, go on through Cub." Smiled Fred.

"Cub?" asked Hermione and George in unison.

"Yes, Cub, she's a little Gryffindor trickster in training. We are the Gryffindor kings of pranks. So, I thought I should call her Cub because we're teaching her how to play tricks on the teachers." Laughed Fred. Hermione shook her head and walked past them and round the back of the statue.

"Er, guys…what's the password? You never actually told me." Said Hermione, blushing at her stupidity.

" The passwords chocolate flavour bubblegum." Whispered George.

"Thanks." Hermione grinned before disappearing off down the passageway.

**3 Hours 2 Butterbeers And A Pack Of Chocolate Flavour Gum Later**

"Here doggy. Come on, I gotta treat." Ebony looked up, hoping to see Malfoy. Unfortunately it was just Professor Snape….'Snape!! SHIT! Where are the spiders when you need them!' yelled a voice in Ebony's head. She growled and raised her body into a crouching position, waiting to pounce or run if needed.

"Come on you stupid mutt, it's chocolate!" Snape glared. The dog leant towards the professors hand tentatively and sniffed the food. It was indeed chocolate. The dog took the chocolate hungrily and wolfed it down.

"There you go, good dog." Said Snape sitting on the table next to the dog.

"Up." He said, patting the space next to him. The dog stared at him confused for a moment before jumping up next to him. He started stroking the dogs head and sipping his whisky.

Snape sat there stroking Ebony for half an hour, by the end of it Ebony was having a hard time keeping her eyes open.

"Ok doggy, got to go now." Smiled Snape, patting the dogs head affectionately. Suddenly there was a pop from the alley next to the pub and Lucius Malfoy stepped out.

"Severus? What are you doing here?" smiled Lucius, clapping the potions master on the back.

"Having a drink with this mutt. It looked a little lonely." Laughed Snape, tickling the dog behind the ear.

"You sure you weren't just lonely?" joked Lucius. Ebony sat there silently this was bad. Very bad.

"Well, see you later old friend." Smiled Snape, heading off up the street.

"That was close." Said Lucius, turning to Ebony. The dog nodded in agreement and leapt off the table.

"So where did you hide your trunk?" Asked Lucius. The dog turned and picked up a small chew toy off the floor.

"Very clever. Come on, better go before someone spots me talking to a dog." Smiled Mr Malfoy, as he walked back towards the alley. The dog followed and grabbed hold of Mr Malfoy's cloak before he disapparated.

The Dog and Mr Malfoy appeared in a grand hall in the Malfoy mansion. Draco Malfoy was waiting for them.

"Have fun being a dog Black?" sneered Draco. Ebony change back to her normal form.

"Better than being a mudblood I can assure you." She sneered back. Lucius chuckled and lead Ebony into the parlour.

"Narcissa love, we have company." Lucius said in a sing song voice. A second later the most beautiful woman Ebony had ever seen appeared in the doorway. She had long blonde hair, pale white skin and sharp features.

"Ebony, how nice to finally meet you. My, you look just like your mother." Exclaimed Narcissa rushing over to Ebony and holding Ebony's face between her hands.

"We have so much to talk about! And I need to take you shopping, oh and we need to…" Ebony was seriously beginning to regret this. Narcissa dragged her away from Lucius and Draco and into what looked like Narcissa's study.

"So, tell me all about yourself." Said Narcissa, sitting Ebony down in an armchair.

They sat and talked long into the night.

The next day Ebony woke with a start in a strange bed. It took her a couple of seconds to finally remember where she was. She looked at the clock on the wall and was horrified to note that it was almost eleven in the morning. She'd never slept in that late. She quickly got up and rooted around in the wardrobe for some cloths. To her dismay all her non school cloths were gone. There was a note posted to the inside of the wardrobe

_Dear Ebony_

_I do hope you don't mind but I have thrown your old cloths out. I have left you an outfit on the dresser for us to go shopping in._

_Love Narcissa_

Ebony laughed at the letter, but stopped immediately when she spotted what Narcissa had left her. It was a dark green dress complete with black high heels and silver arm warmers. Ebony had never worn a dress in her life and really didn't want to start now. But she wanted to make a good impression so she threw on the dress and managed to tame her hair into a half up half down design and walked downstairs, high heels in hand.

"Ebony dear you look stunning!" cried Narcissa from the parlour. Ebony grimaced and walked slowly over to her.

"Come on dear don't be shy, you look lovely. Try putting the heels on, I want to see if they fit." Said Narcissa warmly, Ebony obeyed her and slipped the black shoes on. She looked up tentatively and attempted to stand. It was a lot more awkward than she had anticipated. She took a few wobbly steps and almost brained herself on the corner of the table.

"Don't worry; you'll get the hang of it. Come on, let's go out for breakfast." Said Narcissa, grabbing Ebony's hand and apparating.

After 5 hours of shopping Ebony finally got to choose something she liked. Narcissa aloud her to buy a few pairs of jeans and t-shirts and a couple of pairs of trainers. All of these were either black or silver, naturally. She also managed to sneak a few chokers, spiked bracelets and a studded belt in when Mrs Malfoy wasn't looking. Unfortunately for Ebony everything else she had been bought was either a dress, a skirt, or had ten inch heels on it.

"Come on dear, one more shop and then I'll take you home." Narcissa grinned. Ebony knew she was most definitely not going to like this.

She was absolutely right. The last shop Narcissa dragged her into was the underwear store. Ebony paled then started to blush uncontrollably.

"Now, first of all I think we'll tackle the…" Narcissa droned on. Ebony was too embarrassed to listen. Suddenly a very cheery sales person popped up from behind a rack of cloths and rushed over.

"Can I help you ma'am?" She asked in a voice too high to belong to a human.

"Yes please, I'd like to get her measured for the next six years." Narcissa stated coolly. The sales person nodded and lead them over to a special booth.

"How the hell can you get me measured for the next six years?" asked Ebony, completely confused by the whole ordeal.

"It's magic dear, they take your size now, your age, your magical ability, your health, your fitness and your recklessness and they are able to accurately predict what sizes you'll need at what time for the next six years." Narcissa explained. Ebony smiled slightly.

"So you won't have to take me here for another six years?" Ebony asked grinning at the prospect.

"Nope. But I will be taking you to other stores." Narcissa grinned like a Cheshire cat on crack.

When Ebony finally got back to the mansion she was knackered. She flopped down onto the large leather sofa and massaged her feet.

"Did you enjoy your little shopping trip?" Draco teased. Ebony pretended to faint.

"Never again, no, my feet feel like they've been trampled on and then cut open on the heels." Ebony exclaimed.

"So what ya get?" said Draco lunging for a bag.

"Wow, I didn't know you were that kind of girl Ebs." Draco whistled. He had grabbed the underwear bag. Ebony leapt at him and he sprinted off waving two of the garments above his head.

"Give them back you stupid, blonde bug eyed thief!" yelled Ebony, gaining on Draco. She pounced and sent them crashing to the floor. She managed to wrestle the garments out of his hand before he could do anything. She then sprinted back to the bag an took off upstairs.

"Eb? Eb!" Draco called, Ebony was busy trying to hide all the underwear for fear of Draco stealing it to notice that he had crept into her room. Draco snuck up behind her and with one swift movement had her over his shoulder. She screeched at the sudden change and punched the person responsible.

"Put me down!" she yelled, Draco grinned and said slyly

"As you wish." And pretended to drop her. She yelped and clung on for dear life.

"So you don't want me to put you down? Ok." He laughed, walking casually out of the room.

"Draco, please put me down…WITHOUT dropping me." Ebony specified.

"Can't do that Eb, it's dinner time and we'll be late if I put you down carefully." Draco chuckled.

"Why you pale faced, blonde haired, blue eyed…" Ebony began.

"You realise your just listing my good traits." Grinned Draco.

"Let me finish, snot nosed, pureblooded evil, snobby little cockroach." Ebony finished. Draco just laughed.

"Thanks for the compliment." Draco grinned, then without warning he plopped Ebony down on the sofa and threw a cushion at her.

"Hey! What was that for?!" she whined.

"You called me a snobby little cockroach." Draco whined. Ebony glared and walked off through a door to the left.

"Wrong way, you're going to have to follow me if you want to get some dinner." Draco yelled from the living room. Ebony huffed and followed him through a door to the right.

**2 Days Later**

"Ebony, get up. Your uncle and aunt are coming over." Draco sneered, pushing Ebony unceremoniously out of bed.

"Voldemort has siblings??" Ebony said groggily.

"No, but your mum does have in-laws." Draco laughed. Ebony smiled at the thought of the Dark Lord having an annoying younger brother.

"Now come on! Rabastan is dying to meet you." Draco exclaimed, throwing some cloths at her.

"Don't try and steal my underwear again, it really doesn't suit you." Ebony smiled. Draco pouted and pretended to look hurt.

When Ebony was finally done changing she raced Draco down the grand staircase and into the Parlour.

"Ebony, these are your father's siblings. Annette and Rabastan Lestrange." Lucius announced. Ebony looked at him perplexed. Lucius winked at her and mouthed 'They don't know.' Ebony smiled in response and went to greet her aunt and uncle.

"Ebony, you look so much like your mother." Rabastan smiled warmly, pulling her into a tight hug. Annette just glared. She was an ugly woman, when she smiled she looked like a chimp and when she glared it looked like she was sucking a lemon. She also wore an enormous amount of make-up. Ebony frowned at the amount of make-up the woman wore. She had always thought you couldn't polish a turd.

"Ebony." Annette sneered. Ebony sent her one of her practiced death stares.

"Annette." Ebony replied stonily.

"You shall address me as Ma'am you disgusting child." Annette sneered. Ebony just glared.

After a day of Annette Ebony was a he wits end. She couldn't speak openly, couldn't run around or play quidditch with Draco. And was forced to call the sour old hag Ma'am. She was really beginning to resent the Lestrange's. Apparently the two brothers, Rabastan and Rodolphus, were the only descent people to come from that family.

"Ebony! Quick, mum has taken Filch's mother out to dinner, we can go play a round of quidditch." Draco yelled from across the hall. Ebony leapt up and sprinted out to the Malfoy's massive back yard.

"Dad and Rabastan are playing as well." Draco looked ecstatic.

"Alright Draco, how about you and me versus Ebony and Rabastan then we switch and you two will be against me and Rab." Lucius ordered. Everyone nodded and the game began.

Rabastan was actually quite a good keeper but Draco was always able to put the ball past him. It was much the same with Lucius.

"Alright, switch!" Mr Malfoy yelled. Ebony grabbed a beaters bat from the ground and summoned up a bunch of solid snowballs and started launching them at Lucius and Rabastan.

After an hour of play the four of them ended up summoning up snow forts and having a snowball war across the garden. Unfortunately halfway through Annette returned. Ebony spotted her chance to get her own back on the sour old hag and sent a gush of cold water her way. She was soaked from top to bottom and looked like her face was melting.

"Sorry maaaam! Didn't see you there!" Ebony snickered. Everyone, including Mrs Malfoy, were having a hard time keeping straight faces.

"You insolent little bitch! You are just like your mother! Insolent, unruly and unworthy to belong to such a prestigious family!" Annette screeched. Ebony tensed at the mention of her mother. It didn't matter that she had never met the woman, the fact was that her mother loved her, and she loved her mother.

"Call me whatever you like you sour old trout. But if you ever mention my mother like that again I will personally rip you into a million tiny pieces." Ebony said calmly, her eyes burned with rage and the air around her crackled with power. She transformed into a huge wolf to prove she wasn't joking, then stalked past Annette and into the house.

"Ebony, you ok?" Draco opened the door to Ebony's room. Instead of Ebony he found the same black wolf that had been in the garden earlier curled up on the bed.

"Here doggy." Draco teased. The wolf looked up and gave a half arsed snarl. Draco ignored it and sat down next to the wolf. They remained silent for almost ten minutes before Draco finally spoke.

"How come you remained so calm when you threatened her?" Draco questioned her. The wolf disappeared and in its place sat Ebony.

"The calmer you sound, the scarier you sound." Ebony sneered.

"Fair enough." Draco said. They sat silently for a further five minutes.

"I think dinner is ready now. You can scare the crap out of Annette some more." Laughed. Ebony smiled and followed Draco to the door.

Dinner was a tense affair. Annette refused to even look at Ebony and Narcissa kept sending Ebony sympathetic looks. Lucius and Rabastan stayed silent as well, not wanting to engage Annette in a conversation.

After dinner Narcissa forced them all to participate in a game of magical Monopoly. They played for an hour, Lucius and Rabastan were seeing who could buy the most things without going bankrupt and Ebony and Draco were racing their different coloured brooms around the board. Eventually Narcissa managed to get everyone to play the traditional way and they restarted the game.

After another hour Annette was winning closely followed by Ebony, then Draco, Narcissa, Rabastan and Lucius was in last.

"I don't like this game." Lucius whined in a babyish voice. Narcissa winked at him and he shut up immediately. Draco and Ebony spotted the small signal and sniggered under their breath.

"Annette, I'll give you two hundred galleons for Hogwarts." Ebony stated coldly. Annette glared and snatched the money from her, tossing her the small ownership card before grabbing the dice. She landed on Hogwarts and was forced to pay back the two hundred galleons. Annette then proceeded to land on Dermstrang, Beauxbatons and Kings Cross. Putting her in a enormous amount of debt to Ebony. Ebony smirked as Annette handed over all her money.

"Never liked this inferior game anyway." She huffed, refusing to play anymore.

"Don't be such a sour old hag, it's just a game." Draco sneered, winking at Ebony. Ebony snickered and watched Annette's face turn a horrible shade of scarlet.

"Don't you dare talk to me like that you disgusting child. You should be seen an not heard. What on earth are you teaching this boy Narcissa?" Annette mocked. Narcissa turned to Annette and simply said.

"I am teaching him how to be a person Annette, not a narcissistic fish." Annette's mouth dropped into a comical O shape.

"How dare you be so offensive, mark my words I am never visiting this dump again." Annette hissed.

"Good, because you are no longer welcome here, get your things and get out of my house. You have insulted me, my sister, my niece, my husband, my son, my house and my family. Get out." Narcissa hissed venomously. Annette stormed from the room. A few seconds later there was a loud crack and she was gone.

"Please, let me apologise for my sister's behaviour. She has never been a very nice person." Rabastan grimaced.

"No need friend, it is not your job to apologise for your sister. She is a foul person and doesn't deserve your tolerance." Lucius smiled, clapping his friend on the back.

**Christmas Day**

"Jingle bells Dumbledore smells, Flitwick laid an egg. The Weasley Mobile lost its wheel on the railway." Draco sang, jumping on Ebony's bed.

"Gerr'off!!" yelled Ebony from beneath the covers. Draco quickly obliged as Ebony sent a hex at him.

"Get up lazy bones! It's Christmas!" Draco yelled.

"If it will get you to stop singing then fine." Ebony smirked.

"My mum always said I sang like an angel." Draco pouted.

"She lied." Ebony laughed.

"Now get out if you want me to get changed." Said ebony, pushing Draco out of the door.

"Alright! But hurry up! I want my presents!" Draco yelled through the door. Ebony smiled and grabbed the gifts she had bought for everyone when she had gone shopping with Narcissa.

"You took your time." Draco mocked as Ebony exited the room.

"I had to wrap your present." She grinned. Draco's face lit up as Ebony handed him the biggest package. They raced downstairs and into the parlour.

"Drake, why do purebloods call the living room the parlour?" Ebony whispered.

"Fuck knows, I've never fathomed it. and what's with 'Drake'?" Draco laughed.

"You call me Eb. Which by the way is extremely annoying. So I'm going to call you Drake." She replied, putting her two gifts under the large tree.

"You two are up early, it's only seven." Lucius smiled, walking into the room in a silver and green silk dressing gown and black slippers. Ebony tried hard to keep a straight face.

"Draco! You woke me up at seven!" Ebony glared. Draco grimaced and hid behind Mr Malfoy.

"Who wants to go wake mum up with a nice carol?" Lucius smiled mischievously. Draco and Ebony nodded happily and followed Mr Malfoy up the stairs.

They crept into Mrs Malfoy's room.

"Jingle bells Dumbledore smells Flitwick laid an egg! The Weasley Mobile lost its wheel on the railway!" they all yelled in unison. Narcissa awoke with a start and sent hex's and spells flying everywhere.

"You evil fuckers! I'll get you back for that!" she yelled. Everyone darted out of the room as she sent another round of hex's flying.

When they got back downstairs they were all in stitches. This was the happiest Ebony had been in years.

"You'd have thought she'd be ready for it after twelve years. But she never learns." Lucius said in between laughs.

After they had opened all of their presents the Malfoy's and Ebony went outside for a game of quidditch before breakfast. The kids thrashed the adults and then started a snow war.

By the time they got back in they were all covered in melting snow and frozen to the bone.

"Who wants hot chocolate, scrambled eggs, sausages and bacon?" Narcissa grinned. The all nodded happily and wolfed down the breakfast that appeared on the table.

By the time night fell they were all either slightly drunk, absolutely knackered or high on butter beer.

**The Day Before School**

"You excited about going back Eb?" Draco smirked.

"Yeah, I can't wait to get back behind that muggleborn bushy hair and buck teeth." Ebony sneered. Draco smiled.

"Aw well, at least she doesn't look like a pig on steroids." Draco laughed. Ebony smirked.

"Pig on steroids eh?" with that she changed into the ugliest pig on earth.

"Not much change there." Draco mocked. The pig snarled and jumped on him.

"Fucking hell Ebony!" yelled Draco. Ebony quickly changed back and sprinted out of the way of Malfoy's hexes.

"It's time you guys got some rest, come on Draco, off to bed." Narcissa said, poking her head round the door.

"Night Eb." Sighed Draco.

"Night Drake."

**Back To School**

"Granger. My office now!" Snape yelled from the Entrance hall. Hermione stopped and grimaced. She winked at Draco from across the hall then followed Snape.

"I want to know where you went this Christmas, as does the Headmaster." Snape snarled as soon as he had shut the door.

"I went to a friends." Ebony said. Technically it was the truth, Draco was a friend.

"Oh yes, and who is this 'friend'?" Snape sneered. Ebony glared. 'Fuck him! I can do what I want! Just tell him where you went and leave!' a voice yelled in Ebony's head.

"I went to Draco Malfoy's house. He invited me round. We've become quite good friends this past year." Ebony sneered.

"Did the Headmaster give you permission to visit the Malfoy's?" Snape growled.

"No, but neither him, nor you control what I do on MY holidays. My family does." Ebony sneered, hinting at the fact she knew who her parents were. Snape's eyes widened.

"You. You didn't. You don't know that…" Snape trailed off.

"Don't know what?! That you and Dumbledore have been manipulating me from the start! That your precious Dumbledore snatched me from my own mother when I was barely an hour old?! Or that I have been lied to, and lead to believe that my parents are dead and never loved me!" Ebony yelled, all the emotions she had kept in check rising to the surface in a torrent of anger and bitterness. Snape looked at the floor, ashamed.

"And to think, I started to trust you." Ebony spoke softly this time, as if something inside had been shattered into a million pieces.

"Ebony…I…I was just following orders." Snape whispered. Ebony shook her head.

"I know, but it doesn't make it any better." Ebony whispered before leaving. Snape collapsed into his chair and put his head in his hands. 'There's no getting her back now. She's Voldemort's now.'

**A.N: Woot! Another chapter! I'm on a roll! The Poll is still on my profile, vote to see your favourite character hook up with Ebony!!**


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter XV: Knockout**

A week after Ebony had returned from the Malfoy's she was sitting in the library researching The Chamber of Secrets and just what exactly resided in it when she heard the same hissing voice in the wall she had three weeks ago.

"Kill…..Unworthy…..Vermin…Kill…" Ebony ripped a page out of the book she was reading and ran after the voice. It was slithering along inside the walls. She suddenly had an epiphany. 'PIPES!!!' she grabbed her quill, leant against the wall and quickly scribbled 'pipes' onto the paper. Suddenly there was a blinding pain in the back of her head and everything went dark.

Noises, noises and whispers clouded Ebony's thoughts.

"Ebony….Ebony….Come here my pet…." A strange, raspy voice beckoned to her. She followed obligingly. Suddenly everything came back into view, the whispers didn't stop but at least she could see.

"Ebony, do you know where you are?" asked a cloaked figure.

"No. Who are you? Where am I? Why am I here?" She asked, slightly panicked by the fact that she was no longer in Hogwarts.

"You are in your mind my dear. You are here because Dumbledore…" The figure spat the name as if it was poisonous. "Has put you to sleep. You are not dead, you appear petrified to any who see you…But he is going to try and break into your mind…You must stop him... That is why I am here…. I will teach you how to defend your mind….protect your thoughts and memories….I will teach you how to block him out…stop him from manipulating your mind…. but you must give me your full cooperation…" It rasped. It sounded weak, like it was taking up a lot of power to be here.

"How do I know I can trust you?" Ebony asked, suspicious that this could be Dumbledore. The figure pulled the hood of his robes back. Ebony gasped.

"Professor? But I thought you…" Ebony was astonished.

"No…. I couldn't let him take away your happiness…..you had just found a family….a mother who loves you….he has no right to take that from you…." Snape explained in a tired voice.

"But why? You've never liked me?" Ebony frowned.

"That is not true….I have always admired and respected you….You have been through so much and your not even a teenager yet….you remind me of me when I was your age….I know what its like to think your parents hate you…..to feel unloved…..if only I had accepted the rest of my family I could have been happy……that is why I want to help you…..I don't want you to end up bitter and twisted like me….." Snape said truthfully. Ebony smiled weakly and walked forwards. She wrapped her arms around the pale potions master. Her flinched slightly at the touch, but soon returned the favour.

"Now seeing as we don't have much time and you already know the basics we shall move onto fortifying you mind.

By the time Snape had to leave Ebony had constructed a medieval Transylvanian fortress. Complete with mazes, labyrinths and decoys.

"Why Transylvania?" Snape asked, smiling at the girls handiwork.

"Because you remind me of Dracula….And you also remind me of how hard life is and of strength and power….Wit and sarcasm….So this is the perfect place to put my memories and thoughts." Ebony explained, blushing. Snape raised an eye brow and sent her a crooked smile.

"Thank you…You've helped me a lot…. I'm sorry for what I said." Ebony stared at a spot on the ground in front of her.

"You are welcome…. Ebony…" Snape smiled before disappearing.

**A Horribly Boring Amount Of Time Later**

"Bored! Bored! Bored! Bored! BORED!!!!!" Ebony yelled. The halls of her fortress echoed terribly. Suddenly out of the blue a blue and white mass appeared in the gardens. Ebony pulled the steel shutters around the castle mentally. And set up all the decoys in the mazes. The she went down to the dungeons and locked the door, reinforcing it with a million other doors and decoys and barriers.

She felt the mass get past the maze.

It got past the first labyrinth.

It got past the second labyrinth.

It was stuck on the steel shutters.

Ebony felt the mass leave her brain and went to repair the damage. She reinforced the shutters, made the maze and labyrinth move so it was nigh on impossible to get past and she added and extra layer to the castle.

The 'Thing' invaded her mind often. At random moments it would suddenly enter her mind and start pushing its way to the castle. But it never made it pas the second labyrinth.

**Wake Up!**

Ebony awoke with a start. There was a very angry looking Dumbledore standing over her.

"How dare you block me out of your mind." Her hissed.

"Fuck you." Ebony glared.

"Why you…" Dumbledore was unable to finish because Ebony sent him flying across the room. Her anger had gotten the better of her and now the air around her was crackling and spitting with raw power.

"How dare you manipulate me! How dare you hide the identities of my real parents from me! How dare you assume that I will do you will!" Ebony roared. She sent a bolt of magic at the old man. He was thrown back once again. Suddenly her voice changed and her eyes turned to red slits.

"You are weak, old man." She had no control of her body anymore.

"Tom? Let the girl go. She doesn't want you. She has pledged her allegiance to me!" Dumbledore boomed.

"Liar! Thief! She is MY daughter! She wants ME! Her allegiance lies with ME and her mother!" Ebony yelled. She sent another bolt of magic at the old man before collapsing. Snape rushed into the room and helped Ebony back into bed.

"Severus. How much occlumency did you manage to teach her.?" Dumbledore asked, staggering to his feet and brushing himself off.

"Loads. She was able to fortify her mind by the time I was done with her." Snape half lied. Dumbledore eyed him suspiciously but didn't pursue it any further.

Hermione woke up on the last day of term. She made it to the hall just in time for the feast. Harry and Ron ran up to meet her halfway down the tables. Harry pulled her into a Mrs Weasley type hug and Ron shook her hand. She spotted Malfoy sitting over on the Slytherin table. He definitely didn't look happy.

After the feast Ebony went down to the Slytherin common room to meet Draco. He was sitting on the leather sofa scowling into space.

"Hey Drake, how are you?" Ebony smiled. Draco glared at her.

"How could you allow yourself to be caught by Dumbledore? Didn't I tell you to be careful?" Draco yelled.

"What was I supposed to do?! I didn't even know he was there. Anyway it doesn't matter, he hasn't brainwashed me. I still know my name and my mother and father. And I still remember when you stole my underwear." Ebony pouted. Draco couldn't keep a straight face.

"You look so cute when you pout." Draco smirked.

"Your still my cousin." Ebony laughed. Draco frowned.

"Shouldn't you be getting back to The-Boy-Who-Lived-To-Be-On-The-Front-Page and Weasel?" Draco snickered.

"Oh yeah, I've got to check on Ginny. She's been a nervous wreck since she got kidnapped. See you Drake." Ebony said, standing up.

"Eb, how you supposed to get away from Snape or Dumbledore at the station?" Draco asked just as she was about to go out the portrait hole.

"I'm not going by train, I'm flying. Care to join me?" Ebony laughed.

"Sure, I'll meet you at the edge of the forest at six tomorrow." Draco smiled. Ebony nodded and left.

"Hey Ginny, how you feeling?" Hermione asked the youngest Weasley. Ginny looked like a scared mouse.

"H-H-Hi H-Hermione. I-I'm fine thanks." Ginny stuttered. Hermione smiled.

"Your so cute when you stutter." Hermione laughed, stroking the red heads hair.

"Y-You think I'm c-cute?" Ginny exclaimed. Hermione smirked.

"Of course."

"Thanks." Said Ginny, beaming.

"You going to be ok on your own tonight?" Hermione asked. Ginny shook her head.

"N-No, I'm still so scared. W-Would you mind s-s-s…"

"Sleeping with you? Sure why not, I'll be you guard dog." Hermione smiled. Ginny grinned. Hermione transformed into a large white wolf.

"Oh, don't tell the guys." Hermione added before settling down next to Ginny. Ginny grinned and cuddled up to the big dog. Before long Ginny was sound asleep and Hermione was close behind her.

Ebony had the best night's sleep she had experienced since being at the Malfoy's. She lay awake with the scared red head between her paws and she felt calm for once. Her mind was running rings round her and her muscles felt relaxed. But she had to get up. It was already five twenty five and she needed to meet Draco. She slipped off the bed easily and trotted up to her dormitory. She grabbed what she needed, took a quick shower then grabbed her broom, shrunk her trunk and headed out to the forest.

Draco was already there waiting for her.

"Hurry up! We only have five minutes until the teachers wake up!" Draco whispered urgently. Ebony nodded and they sprinted into the forest

Five minutes later they mounted their brooms and sped up through the tree tops and off away from Hogwarts.

Half an hour later they Ebony disillusioned them and they followed the train track back to London.

When they got to London Lucius was in a field waiting for them.

"Wait up! I'm an OAP!" He yelled in a grandpa-ish voice. Draco and Ebony laughed and sped off in the general direction of the Malfoy Manor.

**4 Weeks Later**

"Ebony! Brilliant news!" Draco yelled, running into her room and throwing himself onto her bed.

"What now Draco. And I swear if it's about Voldemort's sister again, he doesn't have one." Ebony said, her voice muffled by the pillow.

"No, Uncle Sirius has escaped from prison. Yeah, he's 'supposedly' out to kill Harry Potter. But mum reckons he's looking for you." Draco smiled.

"Cool, now get out I'm going to have a shower." Said Ebony, pushing Draco towards the door.

**2 Weeks Later **

"Hermione! Over here!" yelled Ginny. Hermione ran over to the last door on the train and got on.

"Hi Ginny, how was your summer?" Hermione said cheerily.

"It was brilliant, we went to Egypt and saw Bill and went inside all these old tombs! And Percy got boils from a booby trap." Ginny giggled.

"Aw, come on, lets go find the boys." Hermione smiled.

"I wouldn't if I were you Mione, you know your cat Shadow. Well you forgot him at the end of the summer and I took him home and he kept trying to kill Scabbers. So Ron's pretty pissed off with you." Ginny said timidly.

"Oh my god! I can't believe I forgot him! Oh thank you for taking him home Ginny." Exclaimed Hermione, pulling Ginny into a hug.

"N-N-N-No p-p-problem." Ginny stuttered. Hermione grinned.

"I love making you stutter." She winked and lead Ginny down the carriage into an empty compartment. Ginny blushed all the way to Hogwarts.

**Ebony's POV**

"Welcome to your very first Defence Against the Dark Arts Lesson with me. Professor Lupin" Smiled the very tired looking man. He was tall and lean with a large nose and dirty blonde hair that flopped into his eyes.

They were facing a Bogart today. Ron's Bogart had been a spider. Harry's had been a dementor, much like the ones that had raided the train. Now it was Ebony's turn. Lupin eyed her cautiously. She stepped forwards and he let the Bogart out. Out stepped…Ebony. But she was different. She had bright red eyes and was engulfed by fire. The air crackled with black and green magic Ebony stepped back a bit. Eyeing the other her curiously.

"Ridikulus!" She stated coolly. The other her turned into Ron in a pink frilly dress and high heels and began to stumble around like a drunk Little Bo Peep. Ron's ears went a deep shade of red and everyone except Lupin and the newly arrived Professor Snape were laughing.

"Professor, could I borrow Miss Granger." He sneered.

"Of course, Hermione collect your things and your homework is to do an essay on Bogart's." Lupin dismissed her.

"What was my Bogart all about sir?" Ebony asked on the way down to his office.

"It is because, subconsciously, you are afraid of what will happen if you let your emotions control your decisions and your power. It is quite a reasonable fear." Snape explained coolly.

"Oh, alright." Ebony looked slightly perplexed.

"Anyway, why did you call me from my lesson?" Ebony asked. Snape reached his office and opened the door silently. Once inside he sat behind his desk.

"You know of course that Sirius Black is out of prison and supposedly looking for Mr Potter." Ebony nodded and Snape continued.

"Well, he is actually looking for you. And he will do anything to find you. He will not harm you once he finds you but I suggest that you don't go and live with him. For he will, know doubt, do anything to keep you away from your father." Snape explained.

"Also Professor Lupin is a werewolf so there will be no more journeys into the forest while the full moon is out and if you want to go, go in animal form all other nights because of the dementors that are roaming the edge of the grounds." Snape finished. Ebony nodded and turned to leave when Snape muttered something.

"Sorry?"

"If…if you ever need someone to talk to about all this…I'm here for you." Snape whispered. Ebony smiled.

"Thank you." She whispered as she left.

**A.N: Sorry this chapter was a bit boring but I'm trying to skip past all the boring stuff. None of the cool stuff starts for Hermione until the 5****TH ****book. Poll will end when Hermione/Ebony hits Christmas in her 5****TH**** year.**


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter XVI: Quidditch Chaos**

The months had gone by with nothing particularly interesting happening. Slytherin and Gryffindor had climbed up the quidditch table and it was now the final match of the season. Hermione gathered her broom and gloves and headed out into the icy winter air.

The Slytherins were all already gathered in the changing rooms and Marcus was giving them a team talk.

"If you see one of those Gryffindor bitches going for the goal, knock her off her fucking broom." Flint growled, the team roared and cheered in response. Hermione frowned slightly 'Poor Katie, she's going to be sore after this one.' She thought as she pulled on her quidditch robes.

"Valkyrie! No holding back on us, knock those Weasleys off their brooms today." Flint smirked. Hermione nodded and tied her shoe lace.

The team mounted their brooms as the tunnel doors were pulled open. Hermione twirled her bat in her hand, making sure she had a good grip on it.

"Knock em dead team!" Flint roared, before shooting off into the icy pitch. The rest of the team followed, all doing a lap of the pitch in formation before circling round and hovering in the middle, above where madam Hooch stood with the quidditch trunk.

"I want a clean game, all of you." Hooch repeated the same thing she had for the past twenty years before throwing the quaffle up.

The Slytherin chasers got to it first and shot off towards Gryffindors goal posts. Flint and Hermione smashed the bludgers at the two chasers tailing them, they were knocked badly off course. Marcus laughed heartily before speeding off to find a bludger.

After ten minutes Gryffindors only chance of winning would be to catch the snitch. Hermione was ordered to follow Harry and if he got close enough to catch the snitch to knock him off his broom.

Twenty minutes later and Slytherin were winning 150-10. Harry had found the snitch and was now in a high speed pursuit. Hermione tailed him from a distance. Suddenly Harry got close enough to catch the snitch. Hermione sped upwards, bat at the ready.

"Nooo! Please, my baby!!!!" Someone screamed.

"Give her to me!" A man sneered. Hermione jerked her head back as a bludger sped past. She looked down; there were Dementors on the pitch. She started to shiver uncontrollably, but she refused to let Slytherin lose this match. She directed Malfoy towards the snitch and shot a bludger at Harry.

Harry was at the same altitude as Hermione and was jerking violently on his broom.

"Please! She's mine!! NOO!" Hermione clutched her head as the screams pierced through her mind again. Harry had now fallen off his broom, he was hurtling towards the ground. Hermione knew she had to do something but couldn't the screams had gotten louder. She swerved her broom round and sped off towards the forest. Away from the screams.

When Ebony finally came to a halt the screams were just a faint buzzing in her head. She decided to fly some more, she didn't feel like going back.

It was growing dark and Ebony was freezing cold. Heavy hail had started and she had been hit numerous times with tennis ball sized chunks of ice.

"Fuck it." Ebony spat, as she nursed a black eye. She cast a shield spell around her and sped off back to the castle.

"Hermione! Where have you been? I thought you'd be with Harry right now." Ginny exclaimed, as Hermione stepped through the portrait hole. Hermione sighed and turned to leave.

"Wait, don't go, The Hospital Wing closes in a minute anyway." Ginny said, trying to cover over her stupidity.

"That's never stopped me before." Hermione said before leaving. She couldn't be bothered to go to the hospital wing so she went down to the dungeons to celebrate with the Slytherins.

"WAHEEY!!" Marcus yelled, as he hoisted Ebony up onto his shoulder. Hermione yelled in surprise.

"What the hell!" She screamed as Marcus took off down the corridor. The rest of the Slytherin team and some other Slytherin students followed. Ebony rolled her eyes at their drunken-ness.

"Hey, Mark, you gonna get me a beer or continue to give me motion sickness." Ebony laughed. Marcus laughed and plopped her down. He waved his wand and bottle of firewhisky appeared along with two glasses. He poured a fair amount out into each before holding up his glass in a toast.

"To Slytherin!" He yelled.

"To Ebony!" Malfoy shouted. Everyone cheered and swallowed their drinks. Ebony coughed as the mixture hit her throat.

"Burn baby burn." Marcus laughed as he patted Ebony on the back. Ebony glared and swallowed the rest of the drink quickly.

"You going to regret that in the morning." He pointed to Ebony's empty glass, she went to take a step forwards to show that she could hold her alcohol, but she just ended up falling over.

"Ok, that was a mistake, but It'll wear off." Ebony admitted. Suddenly loud rock music began to play throughout the Dungeons. Ebony smirked and stood up.

"Care to dance madam?" She joked, holding her hand out to Marcus.

"Madam?!" He exclaimed.

"I'll show you who's the woman here." He growled, grabbing Ebony's hand and twirling her round.

They danced well into the night, both of them trying their best to show the other up.

"Ok, I give up. My poor toes have had enough for one night." Ebony sighed, plopping down against a wall and massaging her foot. Marcus laughed and sat down next to her.

"I win." He smiled.

"Yeah, you are now officially a bigger girl than anyone in Slytherin. Congratulations." She smirked. Flint put on a shocked look.

"I'm hurt Eb, really hurt." He feigned crying. Ebony laughed and pulled the captain to his feet.

"Come on you big lump, if you even want to consider waking up before noon tomorrow you going to need to turn in now." She smiled as they walked back to the Slytherin common room.

The next day Hermione staggered back to the Gryffindor common room. She had the worst hangover in the history of the world.

"Hey Hermione!" The twins yelled upon her arrival. She groaned and clutched her throbbing head.

"We thought you might want to…eradicate the effects of last night." Fred and George spoke simultaneously. They handed her a small vial and signalled for her to drink. She gulped it down gratefully. Her headache disappeared and she was able to open her eyes properly without feeling like they were being burnt out of their sockets.

"Thanks guys." She said hoarsely handing them a couple of Butterbeers, which she had pinched, as a thank you. They thanked her and departed.

"Hermione!" Ron yelled, storming through the common room. Hermione backed up slightly. Ron grabbed her arm and dragged her up the stairs.

"Ronald! What the hell!" She yelled, wrenching her arm out of his grip.

"Look what your fucking cat did to my rat!" He yelled, indicating a small spot of blood on the bed sheets.

"Maybe it was his time of the month." Hermione smirked, Ron's ears went a deep red.

"how do you even know it was Crookshanks? There must be over a hundred cats that live at Hogwarts, and yet you immediately jump to the conclusion that Crookshanks did it." She frowned. Ron looked slightly ashamed.

"Yeah….but….you cats had it in for Scabbers from the start." He said hopelessly.

"Ronald you are such a …." Hermione was interrupted by Harry.

"Guys! Come quick! Hagrid's just told me that their going to execute Buckbeak!" Harry said frantically. 'That bastard, he promised me he'd leave the damn bird alone!' Hermione fumed silently. Over Christmas Lucius had promised Ebony that he would not lay a finger on the creature.

"Well, well, well. If it isn't the mudblood, the blood traitor and The-Boy-Who-Failed-To-Die." Draco sneered. Hermione glared, Malfoy had promised he wouldn't persuade his father to kill the bird! It was his fault the innocent creature was going to die!

"You evil, loathsome, slimy little cockroach!" Hermione snarled, walking towards Malfoy with her wand drawn. He hit a large stone and backed up against it. Hermione held her wand at Draco's throat and whispered to him.

"You promised Draco."

"Hermione don't, it's not worth it!" Ron yelled. Hermione removed her wand from Draco's throat and went to walk away. Draco laughed. Hermione flew round and ploughed her fist into Draco's perfect face. His head shot back and hit the stone. Draco moved quickly before Hermione could throw another punch.

"Hermione, that was bloody brilliant." Ron said in awe. Hermione grimaced.

"It felt brilliant." She smiled.

Hermione Harry and Ron ran down the slopes towards Hagrid's hut. As they ran past the Hippogriff raised its head sleepily.

"Poor sod." Ron said when they got to Hagrid's door. Harry knocked loudly. There was a sound of muffled sobs from within.

"W-W-Who's t-there?" Hagrid asked from between sniffs.

"It's us!" Ron yelled, looking round frantically. Hagrid thrust open the door.

"Wha in the name of Merlin do ya think yer doin ere?!" He said gruffly. Hermione pulled off the invisibility cloak.

"We're here to see you and Beaky." She said quickly, the boys nodded. Hagrid ushered them in and shut the door quickly.

"You can't be ere, the executioner'll be ere any minute!" He said frantically.

"Besides, an execution is no place for younguns." He said, tears streaming down his face and into his beard.

"Oh, and Ron, keep an eye on yer pets." Said Hagrid, pulling Scabbers out of a cookie jar.

"See Ronald, Crookshanks didn't eat him!" Hermione sneered.

"Shut It Mione." Said Ron, putting Scabbers in his pocket. Suddenly a flower pot by the window smashed. Hermione whipped round and noticed someone dart behind the pumpkins.

"Ouch!" Harry yelped as a rock flew through the window and hit him on the back of the neck. This time Hermione noticed the headmaster, minister and executioner walking down the slopes.

"Their here! Oh Hagrid I'm so sorry." Said Hermione, giving Hagrid a sympathetic look.

"Quick, out the back way." Said Hagrid, unlocking the back door. The trio crept out. Once they heard the headmaster and the others go into Hagrid's hut they made a dash for the pumpkins.

"That was close." Ron murmured. Hermione heard a twig snap behind her and whipped round. The branch of a tree was pinged back and she saw bushy brown hair disappear behind the tree. 'There is no way I can be that sloppy… Although I am trying to hide from Me.' Hermione thought, pretending not to have noticed anything.

"Come on, lets get back to the castle." Harry said worriedly. The trio sprinted through the trees and up the steep slope.

When they finally reached the top they heard a ear splitting howl of anguish. Hermione turned round to see the executioner swing his axe through the air and bring it downwards onto something solid. Hermione rolled her eyes inwardly and pretended to cry. She turned round and clung onto Ron as if he was some sort of life line. Harry then sandwiched Hermione between Ron and himself. Ebony sneered.

"Come on, lets get inside." Harry sighed. Hermione 'sniffed' and nodded, letting go of Ronald.

"Ouch! Scabbers! Come back!" Ron exclaimed, dropping the dumb furry animal. Ron sprinted after the rat, towards the whomping willow.

"Ron!" Harry yelled, chasing after him. Hermione sighed and followed.

"Gotcha!" Ron smiled as he pounced on the rat. Harry caught up with him and glared.

"What the hell are you doing?! Do you know how much trouble we'd be in if we got caught?!" Harry scolded the red head. Ron wasn't paying much attention...Mainly due to the fact that a large and savage looking dog was crouching right behind Harry, just a few metres away.

"H-H-Harry!" Ron stuttered, pointing at the large dog. Harry whipped round just as the dog let out a low growl. Hermione sensed who the dog was and growled back. She had learnt how to growl in her spare time, mainly for the purpose of scaring first years as they snuck about the school at night. The dog's eyes were fixed on Ebony, Harry and Ron were also staring at the dog. Hermione crouched low, mimicking the dog's crouch and growled again. Slowly drawing her wand she growled one last time as a warning. The dog barked and pounced, it went for Harry. Hermione jumped and pushed him out of the dog's path. The two of them crashed to the floor as the dog narrowly missed Harry. Once it had regained its composure it whipped back round and pounced again. This time going for Ron. Harry held Hermione to the floor, preventing her from using her wand accurately. Ron screamed as the dog grabbed hold of his leg and dragged him into a hole in the tree.

"Ron! No!" Harry yelled, going to chase the dog. Hermione sprinted after him. But they forgot about the willow. The tree sprung to life and with one swipe of its powerful branches Hermione and Harry were sent flying through the air, landing awkwardly and painfully. Hermione growled in anger and pain, getting up cautiously she made a dash for the gap in the tree. She dodged several branches before one caught her around the waist and dragged her off through the millions of twigs and thorns. She screamed like a mudblood would in that situation. Somehow, in the confusion, she managed to grab Harry's shirt and fling him through the hole. Once that was done she stood up on the branch and rode it like a surf board, before leaping down into the tunnel. She landed painfully on top of Harry.

"Sorry." She said, winded. Harry nodded and got up. Brushing themselves off the two of them started down the tunnel.

When they eventually got to the end they emerged into the shrieking shack.

"Great... A rabid dog and a haunted house... In a moment Snape will pop up from under that table in a pink frilly dress and our house of horrors will be complete." Hermione sneered. Harry gave her a strange look before following the trail of blood up the stairs.

"Oh..Nice..Blood..Halloween came early." Hermione remarked again.

"Your getting far too Slytherin for my liking." Harry sighed. Hermione shrugged. They heard Ron moaning from the second door on the landing. The door was locked so Hermione kicked it in. Again Harry gave her an odd look.

"What? I opened it didn't I?" Harry rolled his eyes and ran over to Ron. He was sitting on the bed, his leg bleeding badly, several large tooth marks were visible through the ripped material on Ron's left leg.

"H-Harry, it's not a dog. I-It's Sirius Black!" Ron cowered in terror. Ebony was staring at the shaggy, slightly deranged man, in the corner. He winked at her, letting her read his mind.

'When all this is done, I want to meet you at twelve Grimmauld place, London.' He said. Ebony nodded slightly, showing that she had heard him.

The rest of the night went as follows. Sirius revealed that Scabbers wasn't really a rat, Lupin turned up and revealed to Harry that he was a werewolf. Then Snape turned up, tried to arrest Sirius, Harry and Ebony blasted him back through a wooden bed. Then everyone went outside, where Lupin went all werewolf on their ass and Sirius had a dog fight with him. Snape woke up, protected Hermione and Ron from the werewolf, Harry ran off to find Sirius, The dementors turned up, tried to take Sirius and Harry's soul, something that later turned out to be Harry back from three hours in the future saved them with an awesome patronus. Beaky didn't actually die, Hermione and Harry back from three hours in the future saved him and Sirius, who was about to be given 'The Kiss' by the dementors when he got caught. Siruis rode away on Beaky and everybody was very very happy...Apart from Lupin who ripped his favourite slacks.

After term ended Ebony pretended to be visiting the Weasley's for a couple of days while she went to visit her Uncle.

"Ebony!" Sirius Black welcomed the pale Slytherin as she walked into the hallway. Ebony regarded the shabby man warily.

"Welcome to your ancestral home." He smiled cheerily. Suddenly the curtains that covered a portrait of an old woman flew open and she made a face like she was about to scream, but something stopped her.

"Oh dear Merlin! A proper Black! Ebony my dear, come here so I can get a good look at you!" Ebony raised an eyebrow at the old woman.

"Don't be silly deary, now come here so your grandmother can take a gander at how much of a Black you are." The old woman smiled. Ebony walked a few steps closer to the old painting.

"My, my, you truly are your mothers. Yes, you have her hair and eyes. Luckily for you your hair is actually tameable, unlike your mother5s which looks like a birds nest." The old woman said cynically. Ebony frowned, and with a swish of her wand the curtains were closed.

"Yes, well, that was my mother. Old bat never was a very nice conversation." Sirius sighed. Ebony nodded awkwardly.

"So, your my estranged cousins daughter ay? Never understood why she went for Voldemort when she could have had any man or woman she wanted... Ah well, no point pondering her choices now." Sirius waffled on, leading Ebony down the stairs into an old disused kitchen.

"So, tell me, have you met the Malfoy's yet?" Sirius asked matter-of-factly. Ebony nodded.

"What about your father... Have they tried to find him, or have you tried to find him yet?" Sirius asked, Ebony shook her head silently. Ebony wasn't planning on saying much to her deranged uncle. She didn't know who he was working for, and she didn't know him well enough to know when he was lying.

"And, what of your mother. Have you tried to bust her out of that hell-hole yet? Or are you biding your time? Waiting until you know you are strong enough to take on over a thousand dementors?" Ebony pondered her answer for a moment. She had often thought about busting her mother out. But the thought of over a thousand dementors dragging up her past from the depths of her mind put her off the thought.

"No, i'm waiting for the opportune moment." Ebony said. Sirius nodded.

"Very wise little one." Suddenly there was an almighty crash from the hallway.

"Shit, somebody's got in!" Sirius whispered. Ebony growled, pulling out her wand she advanced towards the stairs. She moved swiftly and silently up them, her uncle following behind. She peaked her head around the corner, searching for the intruders. There were three of them. Ebony noticed they all had brilliantly blonde hair.

"It's the Malfoy's." Ebony whispered. Sirius nodded, going on ahead of Ebony he walked out into the open.

"Ah, Narcissa, Lucius. How happy I am to see you again." Sirius beamed, walking towards the Malfoy's, arms outstretched. Ebony smelled a rat. She crouched and growled menacingly as a warning to Sirius. The intruders had still not turned round, but Ebony saw one of them withdraw a wand from his overcoat. Suddenly Sirius turned back and shot a spell at Ebony. She yelped a fell back down the stairs. When she landed she noticed she now had four legs instead of two.

"You bastard!" She tried to yell, but it just came out as a howl. Ebony took off up the stairs to rejoin Sirius.

"Ebony! Your looking particularly beautiful today!" Sirius joked, Ebony growled at him. She turned to see if the intruders had been dealt with. Her face fell when she saw it really was the Malfoy's.

"What the fuck?! Why did you change me into a wolf if their not actually intruders?!" Ebony growled. Sirius growled back, amazingly Ebony could understand it.

"Because if your going to bust into Azkaban you can't go in human form. How do you think I got out?" Sirius said. Ebony thought for a second, then nodded. Ebony concentrated on turning back into a human. After a few failed attempts she managed it.

"So why make me an animagus now? Do you want me to go save her now then?" Ebony asked, perplexed.

"No, not yet, we shall wait until you are into your fourth year before we get you to bust her out." Sirius said. Ebony sighed.

"Anyway....Why the hell are you guys here?" Ebony asked Lucius.

"You don't honestly think we'd let the daughter of our master wander off without having her tailed do you?" Lucius smiled. Ebony glared at them.

"So when were you planning on telling me that you were having me tailed?"

"When your mother and father were back." Narcissa grinned. Ebony shook her head exasperatedly.

"So I'll never be on my Todd. There will always be someone following me?" Ebony said down heartened.

"'Fraid so kid." Sirius smiled. Ebony glared.

"Fine...So if we're not going to bust my mum from jail, shall we have a whiskey?" Ebony smiled hopefully.

**A.N. I'm Back..But for how long?? I cannot apologise enough for making you wait so long for a shitty chapter, but least it's something.... Again i'm so sorry, i'm not even gonna try and make any excuses here i'm just sorry.**

**Pole Is still up on my profile, Snape is currently in the lead followed by Draco with fred voldie ginny and tonks all holding third place...If you wanna choose who Ebony falls for go vote now! (Personally i'm rooting for Ginny or Tonks ;) )**


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter XVII: The Triwizard Tournament**

When Ebony made it back to school on the first of September she was horrified to find out that the prestigious and banned Triwizard Tournament was to be held that year. It wasn't the fact that it was a dangerous tournament and that someone could get killed that bothered her. In fact she was going to enter just because of that. But because they had CANCELLED QUIDDITCH!!! She nearly had a heart attack when she heard the news.

When Ebony finally made it back to the common room something small with ginger hair ambushed her, almost bowling her over.

"Ginny what the hell?!" Hermione yelled exasperatedly, catching the red head before she face planted into the ground.

"H-Hermione, i'm so sorry, I..." Ginny trailed off. Hermione watched the youngest Weasley get steadily more red. After a second Hermione realised she was currently hugging the younger girl. She gently pushed Ginny of her and straightened her robes.

"So, why did you come charging at me at a hundred miles an hour?" Hermione smirked. Ginny went even more red.

"I...I wanted to talk to you." She managed to say, only hesitating once.

"Ok...I'm listening." Hermione said, intrigued by what the red head was going to say.

"C-Can we go somewhere else?" Ginny asked, very aware of the fact that Parvati and Lavender were earwigging on their conversation and whispering. Hermione nodded and walked back out of the portrait hole, Ginny followed suit.

They walked to a near by short cut that was almost always deserted.

"So..What did you want to talk to me about?" Hermione asked. Ginny hesitated for a moment, not sure how she was going to say this.

"A-Are you entering the tournament? I mean... I know it's only for the seventh years but you said yourself you knew how to get around that." Ginny said, thankful for the fact that it was almost pitch black in the corridor, because then Hermione couldn't see her blush.

"Yeah, is that what you wanted to talk about? Do you want to enter as well?" She asked. Ginny shook her head.

"No...I..I'm just worried. I mean there's a reason it was banned. There's a reason that only the seventh years can enter." Ginny said, knowing she sounded like a total prat.

"So...I'm just as capable as any seventh year. Heck i'm even better than some of those dunderheads." Hermione smirked. This was proving to be quite amusing. Watching the red head try and talk her out of entering because she had some sort of weird crush on the bush haired girl.

"But still...I just think it's not a good idea...I mean what if you get killed?" Ginny said. Hermione shook her head.

"If I get killed I get killed...Nobody would truthfully miss me anyway." Hermione sighed. In her head Ebony sighed even more.

"I'd miss you..." Ginny whispered. Ebony smiled, not out of amusement but because somebody cared. Then she realised she cared about the smart arse, bushy haired lie that she had to pretend to be everyday. Not the straight haired spawn of Satan with enough sarcasm to beat the king of sarcasm himself, Snape. So Ebony quickly pulled her mask back on. Hermione hugged Ginny tightly, she could feel the red head start to cry on her shoulder.

"Please don't enter...Please don't die..." Ginny sniffed. Hermione frowned.

"Don't worry Gin...I won't die...I promise." She said softly. Ginny hugged her even tighter. And whispered something that sounded suspiciously like 'Don't die..I love you..' into Hermitage's shoulder but she couldn't hear it properly.

When Ginny was done crying Hermione wiped the last of the red heads tears away and pushed Ginny's fringe back behind one ear.

"Come on, lets get to bed before the dungeon bat leaves his lair." Hermione joked. Ginny smiled and followed her back to the common room.

Hermione transformed into the big white wolf again and kept Ginny company that night.

The next month leading up to Halloween were the most boring of Ebony's life. She was anxious to enter her name in for the tournament and already knew how she was going to do it. There was a death eater at Hogwarts going under the guise as Alastor Moody, the new defence against the dark arts teacher. She was going to get him to enter her into the tournament as well as Harry. Hopefully the mere fact that she was his Masters daughter would be enough to scare him into entering her.

During the month leading to Halloween Ebony often visited Snape in her spare time. He also was aware of the new death eater on site and it had him on edge. He had made it clear that he had wanted the job of entering Potter into the tournament, seeing as he was already here. But the dark lord, or what was left of him, declined saying Dumbledore would have sniffed him out immediately. He also wanted to add some originality to one of his plans.

"I just don't see why he had to bring in that madman! As adept at the dark arts as he is he is still completely unstable! Not only can he be bribed into almost anything he will also do anything for revenge. Thereby jeopardising the plan!" Snape ranted the night before Halloween.

"And you! Entering the tournament without my permission or your guardians permission! The dark lord will be furious!" Snape rounded on her, he had obviously had a little too much to drink because he never spoke like this.

"Severus cool it. I did what I had to. At the end of the tournament during the last trial the first person to get to the cup will be transported to My Father. Not only will I be ensuring that Harry gets there first I will also get there. I will get to see my father finally and Potter will be killed!" Ebony tried to calm Snape down, but to no avail.

"But what if Potter isn't killed and he escapes? Then he will know you are Voldemorts daughter!" Snape growled.

"You don't think that I've already thought of that?" Ebony raised her voice slightly, getting angry at how drunk Snape was. She cast a sobering spell on him and he thought for a second.

"What then, have you done to ensure that if in the unlikely event Potter escapes that he will not relay any of the information learned that night?" Snape asked in his usual cool voice.

"Memory Charm....Triggered by the return trip on the port key, which will be his only escape route." Ebony smirked. Snape nodded in approval.

"IF Potter escapes he will think that I had been kidnapped and someone took my place. He will thin that when he went to Voldemorts lair that he rescued me and we escaped together." Ebony's smirk became wider as Snape began to grin evilly.

"You did good kid. I'm sorry that in my inebriated state that I underestimated your greatness." He winked. Ebony smiled.

"Anyway, I think it's time you got back to the Gryffindor common room. A certain young Weasley has just left the common room in search of you. And i'm sure you don't want her to get caught by the dungeon bat. Do you?" Snape hinted, smiling slightly. Ebony shook her head and rushed off out of the office.

"See you later Sev." She taunted him from the door." Snape rolled his eyes.

"Twenty five points from your ego!" He yelled after her.

Ebony dashed round the corner and spotted Ginny. She quickly composed her self and walked up behind the young witch.

"Good evening." She said loudly in her best Snape impression. Ginny jumped and whipped round. She breathed a sigh of relief when she saw it was just Hermione.

"You scared the life out of me Hermione!" She said, clutching her heart.

"Good, what are you doing out so late? You know the dungeon bat is always on the prowl at this time!" Hermione scorned her. Ginny looked slightly ashamed.

"I'm sorry...I just came to find you, you weren't in the common room and nobody had seen you since dinner. You weren't even in the library." Ginny said quickly.

"Then I heard that someone had seen you going down into the dungeons so I was going to go look for you." Ginny said, staring at the floor. Hermione smiled.

"Don't worry, I just had a detention with the greasy old git." Hermione smirked. Ginny raised an eyebrow.

"but you never get detentions..That's so un-you" Ginny said in awe.

"Well, maybe I've changed a little. Anyway, speaking of greasy gits I do believe that he is on his was up here, so it's time to scarper." Hermione said, grabbing Ginny's hand and running back up the stairs, but not before she had turned and winked at Snape, who was hidden in the shadows.

Snape watched the two girls talking from behind a pillar. It was obvious the Weasley had some sort of weird crush on her, but he could not see anything in Ebony that said she did too. He smirked every time she called him a dungeon bat or greasy git. And his grin only widened when she turned and winked at him before dashing up the stairs. Snape shook his head and laughed softly, heading off to the astronomy tower to scare some older kids shitless.

The next day during the feast was the weirdest thing ever. The students from Beauxbatons and Dermstrang had arrived. Dermstrang sat with the Slytherin table and Beauxbatons with the Ravenclaws.

"So, how are you then?" Said someone to her left. Ebony looked round to see Viktor Krum.

"I'm fine thanks. And you?" She said, wishing he'd shut up so she could get out of here, normally it was crowded, but this was just claustrophobic.

"No doubt you know my name, yes? So what is yours?" He asked, odd accent mis pronouncing so of the words.

"Hermione...Hermione Granger." Ebony lied, Draco looked at her and she shot him a glare. He quickly got the message and returned to his food.

"What a nice name...Hermoninny." Krum struggled to say it right. Draco almost spat out his pumpkin juice and went red in the face. Hermione rolled her eyes, noticing her cousins distress she quickly made up some stupid excuse about homework and got them both out of there.

"Hermoninny. I'm never going to let you forget that one." Draco laughed. Ebony glared, ridding herself of the bushy hair in favour of the straight black hair.

"Well, at least somebody likes Granger....Well someone whose not a girl anyway." Draco winked, Ebony glared.

"Would you like to have your balls hexed off? Because your going the right way about it." Ebony growled, Draco quickly shut up.

"So...Apart from Snape who likes the real you?" Draco asked. Ebony glared.

"Snape?! Snape doesn't 'like' me! He's more like the father I never had!" Ebony growled. She went silent for a moment, realising that nobody liked the real her. Everyone who knew Ebony was either friends, relatives or mother/father figures. Nobody actually loved her. She growled at her sudden weakness and tried desperately to lock away her emotions again.

"Ebony, could I have a word?" Snape appeared in front of them. Ebony nodded and dashed after him. Breathing a sigh of relief.

When they finally made it to Snape's classroom Ebony sat down behind one of the desks and laid her head on her arms.

"Don't let this get to you Ebony. It's not worth it." Ebony tensed her muscles, willing herself not to cry. She felt Snape walk over to her, she shifted away slightly, not wanting to show her face. He laid a hand on her shoulder, trying to comfort her.

"I know it's hard to deal with Ebony, but you just have to put up with it. You have to distance yourself from it and get on with life." Snape said, remembering how he felt at her age. What was left of his heart ached slightly at the memories so he shut them out. Ebony slowly looked up. Tears stinging her eyes, asking to come out.

"Do you think anyone could love me? And don't lie...I hate it when you lie..." Ebony said quietly. Snape looked at her, slightly taken aback by the question.

"Of course someone could love you. Your smart, witty, sarcastic and funny. What's not to love?" Snape said.

"The lying, the fact that i'm a death eater, the evilness." Ebony said cynically. Snape sighed.

"Then you'll just have to find someone equally evil and torn up inside. And in times like these, there are plenty of them about." Ebony nodded. She stood up slowly and hugged Snape. Snape raised an eyebrow and hugged her back awkwardly.

"Thanks Sev." Ebony smiled.

The next few days were boring. Ebony was waiting to see if her plan had succeeded so she was anxious and often couldn't sit still. There was something that amused her though. And that was Viktor Krum's persistent tries to get Hermione to go out with him. He would come up to her in the library, in the grounds and in the Slytherin common room and try to make conversation. Hermione humoured him a few times before making up some excuse and leaving.

Hermione sat deadly still in the great hall as the goblet spat out the first two names. Krum and some girl called Fleur Delacour were chosen. Then the goblet spat out the next name.

"Hermione Granger!" Dumbledore read out then doing a double take at it. The whispers started as Hermione walked up the aisle to Dumbledore. He frowned at her and gave her the scorched bit of paper. She walked on through the door at the end of the hall an d into the trophy room.

When she entered both of the other contestants stared at her.

"What?" She growled.

"Nothing, but aren't you a little young to be here?" Fleur sneered. Hermione glared.

"I am just as adept at magic as you are, that's why the goblet accepted my name." Hermione lied. Fleur glared back before going and sitting by the fire.

"Hermione? How the hell?" Harry asked, appearing beside her.

"I could ask you the same thing." She said, feigning surprise.

"I don't know...Someone must have put our names in." He whispered, dragging her to the corner of the room.

"Well there's nothing we can do now. We're in this whether we like it or not." Hermione sighed.

"You two! Here now!" Dumbledore boomed from the staircase.

"Now I don't know how you managed it, but you managed to get yourselves into this, and now you must suffer the consequences. There will be no backing out. Even if it gets too tough, you entered yourselves in for it and you got chosen." Dumbledore said, slightly angry, but mostly worried.

"Dumbledore, you must take one of those two out. Eet iz not fair zat Hogvarts gets two bites of zee apple." The headmistress of Beauxbatons glared.

"But surely madam, two fourth years barely equals one seventh year." Snape said, appearing behind the headmistress. She thought for a second before nodding.

"Fine. Zey will not last the first challenge anyway." She huffed before going to congratualte Fleur.

"Harry, Hermione, to bed both of you." Dumbledore said tiredly. Hermione smiled at Severus on the way past. He returned it quickly before going back to his usual sneering face.

The run up to the trial was hectic and boring at the same time. Hermione was practising like mad so she could beat the dragon, Snape had informed her of what the trial would be. So far she had come up with she would transform into a wolf, sneak past the dragon and get the egg. If that failed she would cast several advanced binding spells on the dragon, allowing her to get past get the egg and get out.

When the day finally came Ebony was on edge. She wasn't scared, she just didn't want to be burned alive and look like a total twat. She ate breakfast slowly, managing to finish one piece of toast before giving up on life completely.

"Champions follow me please!" McGonagall yelled from the doors. Ebony jumped up and walked towards her. Meeting Harry at the door, who was just as nervous as she was.

"Been nice knowing you Harry." She tried to make light of the situation. He laughed half heartedly. They followed McGonagall down to a large tent where they were left alone until the first trial began.

Dumbledore and the other head teachers came in. Dumbledore had a bag into which eat contestant had to put their hand in and pull out a dragon. Fleur and Viktor got the easy ones where as Harry and Hermione got the deadly ones.

"Brilliant...We don't stand a chance..." Harry said, defeatedly, staring at his mini dragon. Hermione sighed watching her dragon try to burn one on her fingers.

After the first two contestants were gone it was Hermitage's turn.

"See you on the other side." Hermione sighed, giving Harry a quick hug. She walked slowly out into the ring. It was lined with scorched stones and bits or trees. Ebony spotted the egg in the middle of the ring. She turned into a wolf and crouched low, moving slowly and silently around the rocks towards it.

She got within arms length of the egg before the dragon whipped it's tail round and sent her flying through the air and into the wall. She yelped in pain, feeling one of her ribs crack. She quickly dodged the fire that the dragon spat at her and made another dash for the egg. Again she was thrown backwards painfully into the wall. She growled, turning back into her normal self. She pulled out her wand and shot the binding spells at the dragon. One bound it's mouth shut, one bound it's tail to it's back and the others tied up it's legs. Hermione sprinted past the dragon and grabbed the egg. Unfortunately the ropes around it snapped and it rose up to full height.

"Oh shit." Hermione sighed, watching it as it got ready to strike. She ran for the exit, but had to dive out the way as yet more fire was shot at her. The dragon went and stood in front of the exit, blocking her path completely. She growled, the trial was over, why didn't they get her out. She looked up at the teachers and saw Snape arguing madly with Dumbledore. While she was distracted the dragon whipped it's tail again. It missed by inches, but one of the spikes caught Hermitage's cheek and left a large painful gash there.

"That's going to leave a scar." She sighed, ducking and diving she snuck round the other side of the dragon. And in one mad dash she leapt onto the dragon. It roared and took flight. Hermione yelled as she was nearly catapulted off onto the stones below. Holding on tightly Hermione waited for the dragon to fly round near the exit, when it finally did she stood up shakily and jumped. Hitting the ground and rolling through the exit she breathed a sigh of relief. Then everything went black and she lost consciousness.

"Ebony? Ebony?" Ebony woke p to see Snape standing over her. She went to sit up but something felt like it was stabbing her when she tried so she fell back, clutching her broken rib.

"Don't try and sit up, it hasn't healed yet." Snape said, putting some potion on her gash. It stung like hell but she could feel it healing, so she didn't say anything.

"Where am I?" She asked, realising that she wasn't in the hospital wing.

"Your in my quarters, Dumbledore wanted me to heal you personally and didn't want other students and madam Pompfrey getting in the way." Snape explained. Ebony nodded and sighed. The room she was in had a lot more blue in it than she had expected. But there was no red or yellow in sight.

"Closet Ravenclaw Sev?" Ebony smiled cheekily. Severus laughed.

"I'd certainly of had a better life if I was in Ravenclaw." Snape sighed. Ebony sent him a comforting look and he snapped out of it.

"You a closet Hufflepuff?" He asked mockingly. Ebony raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, and my name is also Flitwick." She rolled her eyes.

"But I guess I have grown a little fond of Gryffindor though." She sighed. Snape smiled.

"A little birdy told me that master Draco is also a bit of a Gryffindor at heart." Snape winked. Ebony laughed.

"Now that's a surprise." Ebony giggled, ignoring the stabbing pains in her ribs.

"So...How badly did I do?" Ebony asked, wanting to know if she had messed up.

"You did brilliantly. And most of the injuries you acquired don't count because you had already got the egg." Snape said. Ebony frowned.

"Why didn't Dumbledore stop the dragon? I had the egg, the trial was over."

"I don't know, but i'm keeping an eye on the old coffin dodger. It seems that he doesn't want you around anymore." Snape said bitterly.

"Oh well, by the end of this year my Father will be back to his full power, and then Dumbledore won't be able to do anything." Ebony smiled.

At Christmas there was a Yule Ball scheduled and the whole castle was nervous. Because Krum was going to ask Hermione to the dance she had to find somebody to go with, and quick. Draco sprang to mind, but she doubted that she could get away with going to the ball as Ebony instead of Hermione. Ginny also came to mind, but she wasn't sure how the young girl would take it. She couldn't ask her to the ball as friends because that would crush the girls heart, but she couldn't ask her to go as a date because Ron would murder her. Her only other option was Snape or not going at all.

In the end she had to settle for Ginny, there was nobody else and she could handle Ron easily.

Two days before the ball Hermione made her move.

"Hey Gin." She said, sitting down next to her in the library.

"Oh, hey Hermione." Said Ginny, going red.

"How are you?" Hermione asked, smiling.

"I'm fine...I just wish that somebody get the hint that I like them. I mean I've had a crush on them for ages but they haven't noticed yet." Ginny said sadly.

"So...Spill it, who is it?" Hermione grinned. Ginny shook her head.

"I don't want to."

"Aw come on Ginny, we're best friends, you can tell me anything. You know that." Hermione said kindly. Ginny looked up at Hermione.

"Is it Harry?" Hermione asked. Ginny shook her head.

"Er...Neville...Draco...Snape.." Hermione guessed. Ginny shook her head again.

"Is it a girl or a boy?" She asked.

"G-Girl." Ginny stuttered.

"Lavender, Parvati, Padma...Hannah..." Hermione kept guessing. Ginny shook her head at each of them.

"Do I know her?" Hermione asked. Ginny nodded.

"How well?"

"Very well." Ginny replied. Hermione thought for a second.

"Is it me?..." She asked awkwardly. Ginny stayed silent for a second.

"Depends which you your referring to..." Ginny said. Ebony stopped dead. 'She knows? She can't know! I've been so careful!'

"What are you on about honey? There's only one me." Hermione tried to act natural.

"Don't play games with me. I know your not Hermione Granger, I know who you are. I've known since I met you that Hermione Granger was just a lie." Ginny said angrily. Ebony glared at the girl, standing up she let her features return to normal.

"How did you know?" Ebony growled menacingly.

"I'm a mind reader, that's how I knew." Ginny glared, standing up as well. Ebony growled again.

"Prove it! What am I thinking now?!" 'If you can read this, your not lying.' Ebony though over and over.

"If you can read this, your not lying." Ginny said quietly. Ebony went pale...Or paler, if that was possible.

"How much have you read my mind?" Ebony asked, anger growing at the fact Ginny had been reading her thoughts.

"Enough to see that you want someone to love you." Ginny whispered.

"Enough to see that you want your mother back, that you just want her to hug you, because you have been deprived of them all your life. And you want to meet your father, to see what he's become. You want to know your parents and family." Ginny said, getting steadily louder.

"You also want someone to know the real you, and love you for who you really are. But you are convinced that nobody ever could, because of the lies and because of the darkness that resides within you." Ginny was bright red now, she glared at Ebony as all Ebony's defences collapsed around her. And she was left a broken fourteen year old girl.

"I-I have to go..." Ebony said, sprinting out of the library. She ran down the stone steps and was just about to leave the castle when a strong pair of arms caught her round the waist.

"Hey, what the?!" Ebony exclaimed before she recognised Snape's scent.

"It's not a good idea to leave the castle on a night like this." Snape said, indicating the snow and freezing wind." Ebony wiggled out of his grip and turned to face him. Her cheeks were streaked with tears and she was shaking.

"Come with me.." Snape sighed, leading her back to his office.

"What happened?" Snape asked when they got to his office. Ebony let Snape read her memories before sitting down on a desk.

"That's interesting. A blood traitor mind reader reduced you to tears." Snape sneered. Ebony growled and drew her wand, pointing it at Snape.

"Don't call her that." She glared. Ebony caught herself before she hexed her potions professor.

"Did you plan on doing that?" Snape asked. Ebony shook her head, lowering her wand.

"Then I suggest that you go and ask the Weasley to the ball before Longbottom does." Snape smiled, Ebony nodded and sprinted back to find Ginny.

She found Ginny crying in the the abandoned girls toilets. Moaning Myrtle was trying to console her.

"Ginny?" Ebony said, composing herself. Ginny looked up at Ebony. Both girls had tear streaked cheeks and red eyes.

"Ebony i'm sor..." Ginny tried but Ebony cut her off.

"Don't apologise. You don't need to..."

"Ginny...Will...Will you go to the ball with me?" Ebony asked. Ginny looked at her, eyes refilling with tears.

"I-I can't, i'm sorry..." Ginny said. Ebony felt something in her break a little.

"Can you tell me why?" Ebony asked.

"Because i'm going out with someone...And I love them...But I love you equally...But nobody can know..." Ginny said sadly. Ebony looked down and stared at the floor.

"I understand..." She sighed. 'Don't get your hopes up dumb arse, she'll never pick you, just enjoy her love while it lasts.' Ebony gave Ginny one last glance before walking towards the door.

"I love you..." Ginny said after her. Ebony turned.

"I love you too..." She said before leaving.

Ebony didn't bother going to the ball. She stayed in the library and read up on how to stay alive under water. Deciding she was going to transform into a dolphin she set about casting the necessary charms and spells to ensure she would be able to pull it off. Unfortunately she was too distracted by thinking about Ginny to do a good job of it, so she gave up and returned to the common room.

Ebony's life seemed to be going quite well for once. Somebody loved the real her and everything seemed to be going right as they entered the new year. She had a good feeling about this year.

But only four days into the new year everything came crashing down around her. Ebony was woken by the sound of an owl tapping of the window. She got up and let the bird in, recognising it as Ginny's handwriting on the front of the note she opened it eagerly. Hoping to find another invitation to come meet her down by the lake or to sneak out to Hogsmead to go to the hogs head again. But it wasn't

_Dear Ebony _

_I know I should say this in person, but I can't, it's too painful. The thing is, I can't love you anymore, it's wrong. It's wrong to even contemplate loving you...I mean not only are you a girl but i'm also going out with someone. So I can't love you anymore._

_Ginny _

Ebony's heart disintegrated inside her. Everything hurt and she just wanted to climb to the top of the astronomy tower and throw herself off. But she resisted the urge. Instead she went to the showers and got dressed before going down to the library to practice the charms again.

That night Ebony lay awake, just thinking. She decided that from that point on she was done with love. It was useless and painful and got in the way of her judgement. So without further though, Ebony burnt the remains of her heart and banished all unneeded emotions. She was now the cold killer she needed to be, totally void of all emotion Ebony drifted off into a restless sleep full of nightmares.

The next day was the day of the trials, ebony noticed that both Ginny and Ron were missing.

Ebony later found out, just before she jumped into the freezing lake, that Ginny and Ron were part of the trial. Harry had to save Ron and Ebony had to save Ginny. Because, supposedly, they were things that meant the most to the two champions.

The starting pistol was shot and the champions jumped in, Harry ate his gillyweed, Fleur cast her bubble head charm and Krum tried unsuccessfully to turn into a great white shark. Ebony changed into a dolphin and sped off into the deep cold water in search of Ginny. Resenting having to save the red head who had managed to break her heart.

Twenty minute into it and Ebony had caught Ginny's flowery scent. She sped up, pulse racing before she caught herself. She slowed her pulse and swam towards where Ginny was.

Forty minutes passed and Ebony was at the border of Mermaid territory. They followed her towards the centre of their town where the people were being held. Ebony took a deep breath and changed back from being a dolphin. She severed the ropes holding Ginny to the post and changed back into a dolphin. Grabbing Ginny's shirt in her mouth Ebony sped towards the surface.

She surfaced not far from where they had started, which pissed her off greatly. Changing into a human again Ebony started pulling Ginny to shore. Ginny woke with a start and looked round, dazed. Realising she was in the water, and somehow remembering what had happened Ginny panicked.

"Stop panicking or I'll let you go and you can drown here." Ebony snarled.

"Why am I here? I mean nothing to you anymore." Ginny asked.

"They chose the people two days ago, when you did mean something to me." Ebony hissed venomously. Ginny visibly flinched at Ebony's words.

Ebony climbed up onto the platforms which were in the middle of the lake and was immediately wrapped up in a towel. Ginny climbed up after her and went to sit with Michael. Ebony watched her leave and felt the anger build up inside her.

'Don't Ebony, it's not worth it.' Snape's voice appeared in her head. Ebony looked round to see Snape watching her carefully. She looked away and went to sit down on a bench and wait for the other champions. Other than Fleur who had been attacked by grindilows and forced to retire Ebony was the first person there.

The rest of the year passed quickly. Ebony made a point of avoiding Ginny and often spent her evenings with Snape, joking and practising spells ready for the final trial.

Even though there was no quidditch that year the Slytherin team still practised. Not wanting their team to go soft they trained hard for next year. Seeing as none of the other teams were bothering the team held practice sessions every other day.

On the night before the final trial Ebony received a letter from her uncle Sirius.

_Dear Ebony_

_Me and the Malfoy's have been talking, and we've decided on a date for busting your mother out of prison. If all goes well tomorrow and the dark lord is returned then we will set your mother free on the second week of the holidays._

_Yours sincerely _

_Sirius Black_

Ebony smiled at the news, she began thinking up a plan for how she was going to get her mother out.

The Final trial was relatively easy. She had to navigated her way through a maze and defeat a few minor monsters. Easy, seeing as she had already memorized her route through the maze. She also cast a spell on Harry so she would be able to track him and make it easier for him to get to the cup.

The final trial began and Harry and Hermione were first in. Hermione jogged towards the centre, being sure to take a few wrong turns as Dumbledore would have his eye on her.

Twenty minutes in and Harry wasn't far behind her, having killed all the monsters her would have had to deal with Hermione decided that she would 'accidentally' meet him.

Hermione ran up an aisle, not looking where she was going and collided with someone.

"Ouch!" It exclaimed, collapsing to the floor under Hermione.

"Hermione! Thank god!" Harry said, sitting up and hugging her. Hermione smiled.

"Come on, no time for this now, we've got a trial to win." Hermione smiled. She stood up and grabbed Harry's hand and ran towards the centre.

Another ten minutes and they could see the cup. Hermione and Harry high fived before sprinting towards it. Hermione got to it first, but waited for Harry to catch up.

"On three!" She said smiling.

"One!"

"Two!"

"Three!!" She yelled and they both grabbed the cup. They span round and were whizzed through time. They landed in a grave yard on the outskirts of a small town.

"H-Harry? Where are we?" Ebony feigned being terrified. Harry shrugged.

"Is it another part of the trial?" She asked in a timid voice.

"No, I don't think so." Harry said, equally scared.

"Ah, nice of you to join us master Potter." Said wormtail, grabbing the boy and forcing him over to the middle of the grave yard.

"Harry!" Hermione screamed.

"Oh drop the act love." Wormtail sneered. Harry looked at Hermione oddly. Hermione laughed evilly and changed her appearance back. Harry gasped.

"You! What have you done with Hermione?!" He yelled, trying to break free of Wormtails hold. Ebony smirked and walked past him.

Wormtail forced Harry against a statue and it sprung to life, holding Harry in place.

"Wormtail, who is the other?" Asked a small ball of rags.

"Another young death eater my lord." Wormtail sneered.

"Hmm...I will kill her later." It said, Ebony raised an eyebrow.

Wormtail performed a ritual and dropped what was left of the dark lord into a large cauldron. Before cutting Harry and adding his blood to the potion. He then cut off his hand reluctantly and dropped it in. Ebony watched in awe as her father was reborn. He was tall and bald with red slits for eyes slits for nostrils.

"You, girl, your name?" He asked angrily, walking over to Ebony, who had her hair over her face.

"Ebony Black Riddle." She said, looking up at her father. His eyes shot wide open and he gasped.

"My daughter? The heir to the throne of darkness?" Voldemort asked. Ebony nodded and kneeled before her father and master.

"Rise child, he said softly. Grabbing her left arm her pulled back her sleeve and placed the tip of his wand on her pale skin." Her skin burned and suddenly every fibre of her hurt. But she didn't yelp or scream in pain. When the pain was gone she has a fresh dark mark on her arm. She gasped as the beautiful tattoo like skull and snake moved slowly.

"Come, let us call my followers." He said, touching her mark with his wand again a dark mark appeared in the sky and several hooded figures appeared seconds later in a circle around Ebony and Voldemort. Ebony immediately recognised Lucius and Narcissa, even though they were hidden beneath their cloaks. She winked at the and they smiled. Ebony was about to go join them but Voldemort stopped her.

"Tonight is a great night. I have my body back, my daughter has worked tirelessly to find me, and will soon be attempting to break her mother out of jail and I finally have potter in my grasp." Voldemort hissed.

"There is just one problem. I want to know why it took you all so long to find me, and yet as soon as I call you are here in less than ten seconds?!" Voldemort raised his voice. Everyone in the crowd flinched.

"Narcissa, Lucius, you are forgiven for you did even better than find me, you found my daughter and started to train her to be a killer. For that I thank you, and return to you your rightful places as loyal servants beside the throne on darkness." He said, praising the Malfoy's. They both bowed and thanked Voldemort profusely.

"Ah, in my anger I have forgotten our guest of honour. Harry Potter, The-Boy-Who-Lived. Pray, tell me how exactly you defeated me not once but three times in the past." Voldemort sneered. Harry shrugged, scared to answer.

"Good will always triumph." He said angrily. Everyone in the circle laughed along with Voldemort.

"Really? Then why are you trapped there waiting to be killed?" Voldemort sniggered.

"Because your too scared to fight me like a man." Harry growled, before realising what he had said.

"A duel then." Voldemort laughed, the statue and released Harry, he dropped to the ground and picked up his wand.

Voldemort flipped his cloak out of the way of his arms and got the death eaters to stand back. Harry stood up shaking.

"Bow Harry, Dumbledore would hate to see you forget your manners." Voldemort made Harry bow, mocking his weakness. Ebony watched as the two fought. It was obvious who was going to win. Then they both shot spells at the same time and something weird happened. They were encased in a ball of magic and ghosts started appearing from Her fathers wand. At this point Ebony slipped away and transformed into Hermione, saying goodbye to the Malfoy's before she went. She then rushed up behind Harry.

"Harry! Run now! While you can!" Harry obeyed her and cut off the spell, the ghosts attacked Voldemort and Harry grabbed Hermitage's arm and ran.

"What happened to you?" Harry asked as they grabbed the cup. They were transported back to Hogwarts and Hermione had to pretend to be forever grateful to Harry.

On the train ride back to London Hermione was preoccupied with planning how she was going to rescue her mother. Harry and Ron just figured it was because she was still freaked out after being kidnapped and Ginny thought Hermione just didn't want to talk because she was there, until she read Ebony's mind when she shot Hermione a glare and went to find Michael.

**A.N. Hi guys, weird chapter? I thought so too. Anyway, sorry I squished the whole fourth year into one chapter but not much happens during that year so I decided to get it over with quickly.**

**Poll is still up. Snape is still winning with Draco bringing up second. Tonks is third and Ginny is fourth. I took Voldemort off because he's her father and that's just Yuck! Draco is still on because you can sort of get away with cousins and there's a lot of support for him.**


	18. Chapter 18

**This Is Not A Chapter!!!! Read Please!!!**

**Because the three in top positions (Snape, Draco and Tonks) I have decided to post two more fics continuing from this point on, but they will be different pairings. This one shall be SS/HG the other one will be DM/HG and the last NT/HG. You can choose out of those three which you would like to read, and i hope this stops any arguements regarding Hermione (Ebony's) partner. **

**Because of the extra work load updates will take longer than they usually would.**

**Sorry this wasn't a chapter but i needed to make this clear for you instead of posting it in an A.N which nobody really reads anyway. **

**xXLone-WolfXx**


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